Hugh Parker in The Pitch. QUEENSLAND Theatre Company's season-opening production is a double bill: two one-person plays, two hours to pitch them and two dynamic actors (Hugh Parker and Barbara Lowing). Peter Houghton's works The Pitch and The China Incident caper somewhere in between stand-up comedy and Yes, Prime Minister. Both plays are about "double guessing the bullshit," in the frenzied worlds of two success compulsives: Walter and Bea. Enter Walter (Parker), hack screenwriter extraordinaire. Walter has one hour to find an ending to his mystery-revenge-romantic-adventure screenplay. Every Hollywood cliche is appropriated in his attempt to sell his formula-festered screenplay to two jaded producers. Walter has a brilliant cast to pitch his story - Clint Eastwood, Catherine Zeta-Jones, a hobbit, Russell Crowe, the Muppets and a charming Sean Connery. Parker's impersonations of these characters are dazzling, showcasing his versatility as a comedian and character actor. Enter Bea (Lowing), spin consultant for the UN, the US president, a militia general, her daughter and her ex-husband. Bea is umbilically attached to her work through six phones in her office. She has different ring and voice tones for all her clients: dragon tone, sappy tone, barking dog tone, sexy tone, and mosquito tone. Bea deftly juggles her high-flying job and personal relationships ... until her lines get crossed. Lowing's performance as this savvy, hard-edged business woman is a tour de force. The two plays essentially have the same premise. Houghton dexterously uses humour and pathos to exploit the contemporary dilemma of success at the cost of personal relationships. But the pathos of the plays seems to be an after-thought in these productions which are heavily gag-reliant. The Pitch lacks build and momentum. It is surprisingly one pitch. The China Incident has more dramatic shape than its gendered inversion. The six-faces of Bea are unsettlingly but humorously recognisable reaching a fevered pitch in this production. Simone Romaniuk's culturally informed The China Incident set is a refreshing contrast to the disordered order of The Pitch design. Although neither set is used to its full potential. It is Parker and Lowing's rollicking, hilarious portrayals of pop-culture archetypes that keep you laughing long after the drama has run its predictable course. The Pitch Directed by Catarina Hebbard The China Incident Directed by Daniel Evans. Queensland Theatre Company, QPAC. Brisbane, February 7. Tickets: $33-65.