Hodgson’s The Flood is a character sketch comedy; depicting a gaggle of the odd townsfolk from Lincolnshire’s Gainsborough, each of whom come together to reflect on the one-year anniversary of the great Gainsborough flood. What starts as an anniversary slash surprise party turns into a detective case and murder mystery as we learn what really happened the night of the tragic event.
Among this bevy of locals we meet Stephanie; a delicate petal of a thing who met her husband, Owen, when he rescued her during the flood. Owen’s 35th birthday coincides with the anniversary of the flood. He is a ‘survivalist’, a consultant and is pretty sure he’s the biggest thing in town. Elsewhere we find Jason, the town’s aspiring singer and showbiz star and the Reverend Robert Shaw, who remains bitter at the poor attendance of his church, each of whom take turns in the spotlight. One highlight is the ambitious scout leader; ready to sacrifice as many scouts as it takes to save the town from the flooding.
Hodgson demonstrates an aptitude for accents and a feel for the ludicrous as his cast constantly grows with new and weird characters. However, while Hodgson has clearly put time and thought into weaving this medley of personas into a fairly engaging script; none of them quite hit the mark. A challenging component of character comedy involves making characters that are both outrageous but on some level likable. All of Hodgson’s characters seem to be a concoction of weaknesses and personal delusions, which makes for an hour of unpleasant company. The script could do with some tightening; a lot of largely unnecessary detail seemed to be included.
The initial plot could be well executed and it does create a unique scenario to bring forth these crazy characters. Though humour is currently lacking, with some more development this could be a good hour of entertainment.
