CLEO, CAMPING, EMMANUELLE AND DICK. To 25 September.
CLEO, CAMPING, EMMANUELLE AND DICK
by Terry Johnson
Harrogate Theatre To 25 September 2004
Tue-Sat 730pm Mat 18 September 2.30pm
BSL Signed 15 September
Captioned 23 September
Post-show discussion 23 September
Runs 2hr 40min One interval
TICKETS: 01423 502116
www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 11 September
A fine comedy made out of unrefined comedies and given a production that grows as it goes.A randy comedian's libido may be an odd thing on which to hang a thoughtful play, but Terry Johnson does that in his scenes built around the filming of four Carry On... films between 1964 and 1978. Performances in Hannah Chissick's production don't all create instant recognition of the original actors, reducing the earlier scenes' humour (which merges into later melancholy). But when, after the interval, the seventies show the desolation beneath the tat her account comes into its own.
The 30 films between 1959 and 1978, when Carry on Emmanuelle (referring to a seventies soft-porn film) was the fag end of the set, represented sexually immature, increasingly outdated humour made with low-budget lack of ambition. Johnson's comedy moulds the off-screen experience into a reflection on identity and desolation.
Surrounded by film-lot cast-offs, the action's set in actor Sid James' Merry Traveller trailer the only comfortable location accommodation, with toilet and shower (much used for farcical business). It's Sid's only non-female conquest. The craggy-faced comedian piles up racing debts while lusting after his dresser, naive starlet Imogen and new, knowing, actress Barbara Windsor.
Their long-running affair, under the eye of her gangster husband's starry-eyed minder, is more hinted at than displayed; a matter of generosity on her part and despair on his. The sexual action's kept for ill-fated Imogen, while dresser Sally proceeds from 1964's mini-skirted newcomer to seventies trouser-suited and belted-coat plus beret-wearing sophistication.
Michael N Harbour neither looks nor sounds much like Sid (whose poster-picture first goes significantly awry, then gets displaced), lacking the rasping manner but conveying his character. Stephen Matthews sometimes captures Kenneth Williams' interlocked nose and eyes expression and characteristic vocal snorting. More importantly, he makes evident a misanthropy based on self-disgust.
Zoe Oakes brings out Barbara's blowsy goodness and optimism. For the men Heaven is indulgence; for her a chance to re-edit life. Johnson has edited the Carry On phenomenon to present a picture of self-searchings behind the celluloid. Chissick's production, if not quite catching its full expressive range, by the end achieves a sense of a world where showbiz brio covers existential angst.
Sally: Suzy Bloom
Sid: Michael N Harbour
Kenneth: Stephen Matthews
Imogen: Helen Anderson-Lee
Barbara: Zoe Oakes
Eddie: Pete Dunwell
Director: Hannah Chissick
Designer: Philip Witcomb
Lighting: David Holmes
Assistant director: Phil Lowe
2004-09-12 13:10:48