The Bean Counter

★★★
theatre review (adelaide) | Read in About 1 minute
33330 large
115270 original
Published 22 Feb 2018
33328 large
102793 original

Can you guess how many beans are in the jar? This straightforward question turns into a complex sport in The Bean Counter, a clown comedy that is perfect for kids and anybody impatient. A disarming performer and a cooperative audience can't stop a sense of competition taking hold.

Despite the emergency bean counting circumstances, Alice Mary Cooper is affable and encouraging to every ill-fated competitor. It may be galling to get worked up about an inert jar of jelly beans, but in the end there can only be one winner. While the concept is modest, Cooper has the theatrical skills to make it excruciating. Her trepidation – and enormous bag of bean counting tools – lets you know this is serious business, complete with an Adelaide city anthem.

The Bean Counter is a lot of fun for little beans and older beans alike, but good luck guessing right when the rules of the game change by the minute.

The Bean Counter, La Boheme, run ended