Ladies and gentlemen, bogans and breathas – Pharm Revue is back! Pharmacy Revue had been dead to the world since 2018, and attempts to revive it were thrown off by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. But last year, the Pharma Mia! script was dusted off, updated, and put on for a super stoked Pharmacy cohort. We were there, too.
Critic Te Ārohi extends general kudos, considering the circumstances. Pharm Revue entered a revue market dominated by some pretty big players already (hi Law and Med Revue), managing to hold their own despite being disadvantaged by their hiatus and limited rehearsal time. Pharmacy students fuck off for placement now and then, doing so at different times depending on their year group, which throws the rehearsal schedule for a spin. A week beforehand, Critic heard that only the main characters really knew their lines. Yeesh!
But you wouldn't have known by watching it, and the performance had its moments of great comedy and slick performance. An example of slickness, and attention to the little things that hold everything up, were the transitions. The revue venue, Castle 1 Lecture Theatre, is a pretty awkward space to use. The automatic curtains don't open or close as quickly as they do in the College of Education Auditorium, where Capping and Med perform. Law Revue, a pretty incredible full-steam-ahead show, lost some momentum because of slow transitions caused by those (motherfucking) curtains. Pharma Mia! demonstrated a lot of thought and care here, with quick turnovers and making great use of the normal theatre exits. Critic was a big fan of the spotlight use, and creative use of the balcony bits in the theatre. Usually this stuff only comes with rigorous rehearsal. Great job!
Overall, though, Pharm Revue has dramatic highs and downright lows. A review of a show appreciates what it was, and imagines what it could have been. Pharma Mia!, a Mamma Mia! adaptation, sees Sophie (played by Megan Teo) procrastinating her decision on what health science stream to take: Pharmacy, Med, or Physio. The main difference is there is no overbearing mother, but Donna, played by Ash Dingcong – an overbearing sister, flatmate, and dropout who doesn't want Sophie to follow in her footsteps. To get Donna off her back, Sophie invites her exes to a party. There's Harry, played by Liam Devery, an "erm, Med is acktshully the best," goober; Bill, an empty-headed physio student played by Rahul Suri; and Sam, played by Fahim Firdaus, whose break-up with Donna made her leave Pharmacy. As a silly little romp which speaks to a real, relatable dilemma Pharm students go through, this is pretty solid.
We're not asking for the next Shakespeare. Some of the best main sketch bits were Capping Show-coded jokes. Pharm Revue doesn't want to be compared to Capping, which would be comparing "apples and oranges," director Andrea Austin told Critic. However, they did try to follow a Capping trend with their active social media. They even bravely (but foolishly) had a go at us – maybe save any roasts for after the review has come out. Anyways, it delightfully delighted us just how foul Pharm was, picking the right points to hit us with some out-there, sex-related jokes. So, we're not asking for high literature. But…
Had we not spoken with the directors beforehand, we might have taken a solid minute to figure out the plot. The main sketch opens with characters discussing Sophie being overbearing. They don’t bother trying to act it out through dialogue, or use it to introduce her character. Show, don't tell. Scenes in a short, two-hour show dragged on. Sometimes, we couldn't tell when (or if) it was trying to be funny, or whether what was being said mattered at all. Revues have to be efficient and pedal-to-the-metal because of their limited time. All of the characters had their moments: Megan is a brilliant singer, Fahim portrays a good lad well, and Ash was compelling. Tanya and Rosie, played by Amelia Harris and Eleanor Burkett, were a classic pairing of party-going girls. Liam and Ethan Zhang (who plays Sophie's idiot BCom boyfriend) were distinct and funny as fuck. We just wish the rest were as consistently distinct as them, and wish we didn't keep forgetting who belonged to which degree.
Main sketches are always a drag, and on top of the long hiatus, Pharma Mia! had the worst and best of all Revues. The side sketches were the best part. Nothing fell flat, and everything got a chuckle, even if it was occasionally a baffled, "what the fuck was that," laugh. The Pharmacy jokes were special highlights, and our not-science noggins got them all. Imagining scabies in human form was inspiring, as was bringing them back three fucking times so they could say "not cool bro," to anti-Scabies medication, and make a YouTube apology, guitar and all. Getting a pharmacist to ask someone giving birth some stock, stupid questions, before referring them to a doctor was simple and so freaking funny. The staff sketches were peak, as was a staff member performing in-person. Unheard of! Everyone involved with the side sketches should feel proud of themselves. Treat yourself to a better camera – and occasionally better editing – gurl.
We have a confession to make – Critic basically loves student revues. It's a privilege to have a department with enough students to put one on, a tradition that bridges gaps across year groups, and always good dumb fun. We love them so much, we want them to be the best – even if that's impossible.
So yeah, there are some notes. Sophie's decision to go to Polytech was a random end to a plot that was going nowhere in no particular hurry. But as we watched Harry pathetically form a one-man conga line behind an e-scooter, because it could only fit Bill and Sam, we sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed the silly stuff. A good time all round, and the theatre was packed with Pharm students feeling that departmental pride. Roll on Pharm Revue 2027 – another Revue added to the Otago rotation.
