Good plays and well-written scripts tend to go hand in hand.

In the case of Irving Ingham Jr.'s 'If You Can't Afford It Leave It Alone', the script was lacklustre at best.

Like many playwrights, Mr. Ingham attempted the massive task of addressing a world of problems. With only 141 minutes (and without an intermission) no one topic really got the desired attention.

Perhaps it would have been better to focus on one or two individual topics and explore them thoroughly. Mr. Ingham jumped from violence, to bad parenting, to gossips, to unrequited love, to a no-talent talent competition and finally, to adoption.

The play wasn't well attended on Thursday night. Its cast of characters included Mr. Johnson, a father played by Dwayne Robinson.

The songs he sang displayed his talent however his ongoing soap box tirades were less entertaining. Much of what he said could have been cut. It's not that it didn't have value, it just needed a great deal of editing.

Mr. Johnson's daughter, Julie was played by Capri Wilson. As a young actress, a better script would have helped advance her progress.

Supporting characters Susie, played by Angela Jones, and Jan, played by Beth Anne Thomas Rayner, were well cast as persistent beggars. In Jan's case, she pleaded for $185,000 to help her mother-abusing-fugitive nephew escape to a nice town in Middle America this of course led to another lengthy monologue from Mr. Johnson.

Kyle Smith-Burgess, who played the role of Jonathan, knew his lines but lacked the essential stage presence. His eyes were closed for most of the time as he delivered his lines.

Violet, played by Melody Albouy, and the aforementioned Susie, tried to encourage audience participation, imploring those in attendance to inform on known criminals.

But hust when the audience thought it knew what was going on, the topic changed. Parents and their kids became the focus. However where the common joke in Bermuda is "your daddy ain't your daddy and your daddy don't know", this became your daughter didn't know that she was adopted.

This turned into another lengthy moment with Mr. Johnson and I felt like shouting, "Just say it!"

Then followed what came across as a mock poignant scene to me when Julie's birth mother (Enid Christopher) entered the stage singing great voice, but I wasn't feeling the love.

Overall the play was disjointed and lacked continuity. More focus on fewer issues would had led to a much better effort.

'If You Can't Afford It Leave It Alone' closes tonight at the City Hall Theatre