The Ocean Star at Maidment Theatre

Characters are well-cast in The Ocean Star

Michael Galvin's new play The Ocean Star debunks the idea that all New Zealand men are strong silent types who achieve their goals with natural grace.

His trio of misfits are serious underachievers with nothing better to do than yap, yap, yap about their problems, real and imagined.

Patriarch Brian is an agoraphobic and recovering alcoholic. His eldest son, Jay, is 30 but still lives at home while waiting in vain for Government funding for his unwatchable short films. And his younger son, Ted, has criminal intentions and an incurable disease.

Strangely, despite their faults and best efforts at bad behaviour, the O'Hagan family are a lovable bunch of losers and their dysfunctional exploits are more funny than bleak.

The Ocean Star is marketed as a black comedy and it delivers on one half of the equation. It is amusing with lively, entertaining dialogue and some nicely delivered physical comedy.

But the blackest moments never seem dark enough to deliver on the promise of putting the nuclear back in family.

Galvin forgets that audiences love to hate irredeemable characters. Because he gives his flawed men good reasons for their bad behaviour, the dark moments are lightened with the promise of redemption and perhaps even a happy ending.

The play is well cast in terms of physical type and overall acting abilities. Adam Gardiner, Dean O'Gorman and Greg Johnson look like they could be related and they play well off each other.

Gardiner gives a note-perfect performance as the pompous and deluded Jay, who should get on and grow up.

As younger brother Ted, O'Gorman is a likeable rogue but needs to inject more menace in his performance to unleash Ted's dark side. Without this intensity some of the more emotional scenes are robbed of their power.

The play belongs to Greg Johnson in his role as the damaged dad Brian. He not only brings a great comic timing to the piece but also excellent dramatic ability and his shambolic character draws laughter and tears from the audience.

There are aspects of the play's design that I found confusing.

Kasia Pols hits the mark with her costumes, which are well-suited to the characters' personalities. But Mark McEntyre's suburban home is blandly ordinary and doesn't reflect the artistic tastes of those who live there.

There is also a strange mix of the naturalistic and stylistic in both the set and lighting.

The set is a family living room but the support struts for the walls and the theatre lights are all visible, so you are constantly aware that you are watching people perform in an artificial environment. It is an unnecessary distraction that doesn't provide any comment on the story or help move it along.

Also distracting is Steve Marshall's lighting design, which combines an uneasy mix of suburban and supernatural effects.

The performances made this a good debut for Galvin's play, but a stronger directorial vision from Roy Ward is needed to make it the definitive version.

Design and acting wobbles aside, the play proves that Galvin is a talented playwright who might one day be able hang up his Shortland Street stethoscope in favour of this new career.

He has succeeded in his desire to write a funny, family-based comedy about how you can't choose your family.

If you choose to watch The Ocean Star you will be rewarded with an easygoing, entertaining couple of hours with three guys you can't help but like.

When: until October 21