Comments on Red Cap

Yes I saw Red Cap and thought it very good for a number of reasons. In fact afterwards I decided to write a review but other pressing tasks intrude so it won't happen. In any case being deaf gets in the way of my authority as a critic.
I liked the momentum it maintained and the choreographed movement. The songs were good and I don't think like one critic that "show tunes" are inappropriate. I loved what I think could be called the recitative.
One critic made a snooty remark about "genuflection towards Brecht" but I think they could have gone further in this regard. The idea of different actors playing different roles has merit both as a way to consolidate ensemble playing but as an alienation effect, but it can lead to confusion, even annoyance, in the audience, and so needs to be used in such a way to minimise the chances of the audience being lost.
I doubt if Brecht would want that, rather he would want the audience to quickly accept that this is only a play and these are only actors and then get to the important bit which is taking in the meaning of the words instead of spending an important second or two wondering, "What the fuck is going on?"
So the donning of the red cap was not enough, I think, and the director should have gone the whole hog and used masks. And having the actor with a red cap hanging from his belt while in the part of a boss was distracting.
Of course the idea of using the red cap as a symbol for that which we should all aspire to wear is an excellent one but, if this is the director's intention, the impact is obscured by using it as the only identifier for Pat Mackie.

But enough pontificating. In any case these comments are in the nature of queries raised in a discussion rather than criticisms.