Feet of Clay

Feet of Clay is the new production by the Unseen Theatre Company, another australian premiere of a Terry Pratchett Discworld story.

Runs at the Bakehouse, Wed to Sat at 7:30 until Nov 5th

Unlike the previous production, Wee Free Men, this is a more compact story, a who done it with murders and villainous plots— or more precisely, a how done it, as the head of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, Commander Sam Vimes (played by Mike Shaw), tries to figure out the connection between a puzzling series of murders and the attempted poisoning of the Patrician, ruler of the city. The familiar shape of the murder mystery setting makes for an exciting tale, even if you’re unfamiliar with the exotic setting in Discworld.

Along the way, we encounter the Dragon King of Arms in the heraldry shop (a nice performance as a haughty vampire by Belinda Spangenberg), with a suitable groan worth of puns in the coats of arms presented for our delight.

We also encounter a lost Golem, the Watch’s new dwarf Alchemist (someone’s got to do all the CSI forensic stuff, right?) — Cheery Littlebottom — played by Alycia Rabig in an awesome beard, with a fondness for sparkly earrings…

It turns out a lot is at stake, as Lord Vetinari (Danny Sag) is being slowly — but surely — poisoned, despite the best efforts of Vimes & the City Watch to protect him. If only they could figure out how the poison is being introduced…

Meanwhile, various guilds are plotting to reintroduce the monarchy to introduce stability in succession upon the patrician’s death.

Kahlia Tutty reprises her role as Angua, and Hugh O’Connor turns in a nice performance as Captain Carrot, to round out the capable City Watch team.

The set makes good use of the stage, with an elevated office for the Patrician (naturally) on one side, and a City Watch desk on the other side of the stage. Twin doors centre stage represent a couple of shop locations, and there’s room front stage for street scenes.

It’s a fun evening, running around 2 hours, including an intermission. 

Worth a look!