CARRYING ON. To 18 October.

Tour

CARRYING ON
by Richard Povall songs and music by Rebekah Hughes & Richard Povall

Mikron Theatre Company Tour to 18 October 2006
Runs 2hr One interval
Review: Timothy Ramsden 15 October at Square Chapel Halifax

Stories of the waterways continue to entertain.
With 35 years’ cheerful chugging round Britain’s canal system under their rudder, Mikron are still finding new waterway themes for their shows, currently a wife’s-eye view of Isambard Brunel and this hymn to canal continuity through glimpses of Cheshire ship-builders, W J Yarwood.

It begins in 1926 with the funeral of the firm’s founder, has scenes from the 1930s where the family begins to split from the trade, and a present-day story of young people buying an old Yarwood narrowboat as their home. The 30s is an apt time to explore, as Mikron travel between venues living on their 1936 narrowboat Tyseley, built of course by Yarwoods of Northwich.

Considering the number of old salts who must have sailed in Yarwood ships round the world, it’s fitting the area’s salt industry should have been the reason for local shipbuilding. It seems building canal craft was a necessity when ocean-going vessels weren’t in demand.

With its nails and rivets being hammered away, Yarwoods could be a noisy neighbour, while paternalism and self-interest combined in minimising redundancies during the Depression: keeping a skilled workforce was an investment for times with fuller order-books.

Mikron’s mission is to people who don’t go to theatre, but who’ll enjoy a friendly, informal evening’s entertainment about something they know and love. So, a seventies-style manner governs the show – like John McGrath’s 7:84 Theatre of the same vintage, without the hardcore politics.

Things could hardly be less formal, with props and costumes hanging around as in a rehearsal room, the performance space focused by a simple backing cloth. There are songs to spice up the action, and a series of short scenes where the company thrives more in brief, humorous cameos than in attempting more serious characterisation.

Richard Povall’s not above chucking great lumps of information into his dialogue for the audience’s benefit. Still, it’s an engaging reminder of the rough popular seventies theatre, and it clearly satisfies audiences on its own banksides. That’s shown through Mikron’s 2-play repertoire on each tour and the number of people who, having enjoyed tonight’s play, decide to go back tomorrow.

Cast: Emilia Brodie, Ruth Cataroche, Robert Took, Daniel Wexler

Directors: Marianne McNamara, Richard Povall
Musical Director: Rebekah Hughes

2006-10-22 13:08:07