BEAU JEST. To 1 June.
London.
BEAU JEST
by James Sherman.
Hackney Empire To 1 June 2008.
Tue-Sun 7.30pm Mat Wed & Sun 2.30pm.
Runs 2hr Two intervals.
TICKETS: 020 8985 2424.
www.hackneyempire.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 18 May.
Love and parents in a comic mix.
James Sherman’s 1980s Chicago Jewish family comedy might have had a rougher critical ride if it had turned up in the West End, for being soft-centred, predictable and playing affectionately with Jewish stereotypes. As Sarah Goldman veers between boyfriend Alex, of clear Gentile appearance, and paid escort Bob, hired for a night to create a Jewish partner for her parents’ satisfaction, there's little doubt which way the cookie will eventually crumble. Don’t look for surprises or character excavation.
Fortunately, the play’s landed in London’s East End, played well towards the front of Hackney Empire’s stage in Susie McKenna’s well-paced production. This is a space that breaks-down barriers. Popping out of the proscenium, and never more so than when at the dining-table where meals are consumed as comic high-spots, the characters carry the energy and strength of their performers’ personalities - which make anything formulaic quite easily forgivable.
Sarah falls easily enough for Bob, despite his surname having misled her into thinking him co-ethnic with her. No-one takes bad news more pleasantly than Sarah, and Lara Pulver displays a sympathetic anxiety when resting actor and escort Bob uses his knowledge of musicals to give the impression of having been reared in Jewish traditions.
Adam Rayner’s also neatly-groomed as Bob, implacably switching between smiles and temporarily brow-furrowed concern. Even Alex Hardy's Chris, a performance incorporating much of American comedy’s gestural and tonal stock, is decent about things. Quite clearly, no-one’s out actually to offend anybody here.
The lithe and lovely lovers are contrasted by the Goldman parents, plump figures who explode outwards, in the case of Sue Kelvin’s Miriam, with her horror of the microwave culture. And Jack Chissick’s Abe, a small businessman for whom finding a parking-space in Chicago seems a part-time hobby, and who's comic in benevolence or upset. His emotion explodes inwards, though never fatally; it’s not that sort of show.
Though he doesn’t have the same pointed style, James Sherman comes over as a Chicago parallel to Neil Simon. OK, so no depths are plumbed. And it’s a crowd-pleaser at heart. Still, who’s saying crowds shouldn’t be pleased?
Sarah Goldman: Lara Pulver.
Chris: Alex Hardy.
Bob: Adam Rayner.
Joel: Alexander Giles.
Miriam: Sue Kelvin.
Abe: Jack Chissick.
Director: Susie McKenna.
Designer: Becs Andrews.
Lighting: Paul Gavin.
Music arranged/performed: The Solomon Sisters.
Dialect coach: Julia Wilson-Dickson.
2008-05-22 11:34:05