This August, The Guelph Little Theatre presented Agent Storm: Everything Under The Sun, an original comedy production satirizing the thrilling spy-fiction genre.
Co-written by the talented Finnegan Manning and Finley Janleigh, Agent Storm: Everything Under the Sun is a love note to the iconic James Bond movie series. The show features many classic genre tropes, pulling them straight from the films to the stage.
“I was doing a franchise watch of the James Bond series, as one does, and it occurred to me that there’s something inherently very funny about putting the spy-action genre on stage. So many of the things that are iconic about action movies and spy movies are impossible to translate.” Manning said. “Things like globetrotting, big explosions, car chases, gun fights, karate sequences.”
The show’s opening sequence featured a local element: it was written and recorded by Amanda Braam, a Laurier artist who specializes in jazz folk and shoegaze music. The song was titled ‘The Needle’ and set the spy-thriller mood right off the bat.
The story of Agent Storm: Everything Under the Sun follows the titular Isla Storm, played by Natalia Rhodes, and her partner, Riley Ward, played by Kit Gawne. Isla acts as the Bond-parody secret agent; she’s flirty, reckless, and spitting corny catchphrases left and right. But after so many years on the force, her past seems to be catching up to her. After failing a psych evaluation, she is paired with Riley Ward, a fresh-faced agent, for their first-ever mission.
“Kit plays an excitable fresh take on an agent who has to go through hardship, versus Isla, who learns to stop being as hardened. In the end, the whole show is about trusting friendship; going through that storyline together has been interesting.” Rhodes said.
Much of the narrative follows these two protagonists as they travel the world, unraveling the mysterious theft of MacGuffin, an extremely powerful AI system created to reveal undercover agents. Their mission leads them to the maniacal Cornelius Sunswallow, played brilliantly by Liam Kingsbury. Sunswallow is the CEO of a sunscreen company, and in his capitalistic genius, he decides to blast a hole in the ozone layer, forcing people to buy more sunscreen and unleashing his AI-powered sun robots on the world.
It’s up to Storm and Ward to save the world, fighting many increasingly cliché bad guys along the way. Throughout the story, this oddly paired duo learns to trust each other, with Storm learning to lower her guard, and Ward learning to stand up for themself. Gawne and Rhodes played their roles perfectly, totally submerged in their characters with a genuine and charming duo dynamic.
“It’s a very comedic show, but it also has some important messages about family and friendship, letting people in. That is a big part of the journey of Isla and Riley.” Said Tristan Vince. Having played the tech-expert and gadget creator character of Magpie.
A notable strength of the production was the actors’ range, with most of the cast playing several different roles throughout the play. Agent Storm: Everything Under the Sun features a string of wacky characters tropes, fully committed to the genre’s mustache-twirling villains.
Malcolm Manning stole the show with his range of characters, from Sunswallow’s ever-faithful assistant turned robot to Albatross, the head of Storm’s spy organization. His talent for physical comedy shone through in many intense fight scenes, including his role as a conniving mime who fights Isla in a hilariously mimed-out scuffle.
The cast also featured Theo Banman as Ruby Fox, playing a femme fatale archetype and a twist double-agent. Banman brought elegance to Fox, with a charming performance that drew the audience’s attention.
The most impactful antagonist of the production was, of course, Sunswallow. Brought to life by the talented Kingsbury, it was an absolute joy to watch him command the stage. Kingsbury stole every scene he was in, with an unforgettable performance committed to capturing the cartoonishly evil cliché antagonist of the genre.
Also of note was the performance of Janleigh and Jack Shiavon, each playing a variety of ensemble characters and bringing comedy to the background of each scene.
Janleigh described the fun of seeing her characters come to life on the stage, “This year we really lucked out, especially with our leads, with some really phenomenal people who have really understood the characters.”
The production leaned heavily into physical comedy in many of the jokes. From actors running around as Emus, to an operable moving car, this show took advantage of every aspect of the stage.
“Comedy is super-duper important around this time. With the world being a little scary, having a show that you can come and laugh at and enjoy this over-the-top physical comedy kind of wacky show can give people a break to come live in this spoof world for a little bit.” Said Allison Gammage, assistant stage manager for the production.
“A big part of the mentality with Theatre Unmade is that we operate on a lower budget, and we’re younger performers, so we always lean into those limitations. A lot of comedy comes from those limitations. When there are things above our capabilities to create on stage, doing intentionally silly versions of them leads to comedy. It’senough to give you a sense of the world; we’re never pretending this is not theatre.” Janleigh said.
Agent Storm: Everything Under the Sun was produced by a passionate group of performers and crew, thrilling audiences with witty writing and politically charged comedy.
Contributed photo by Ferris Smart
