GET KEN BARLOW. To 16 July.
Watford
GET KEN BARLOW
by Ian Kershaw
Palace Theatre To 16 July 2005
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat16 July 3pm
Audio-described 16 July 3pm
Post-show Talkback: 12 July
Runs 2hr 25min One interval
TICKETS: 01923 225671
www.watfordtheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 9 July
Coarse, crude, vulgar, and often hilarious.Ian Kershaw's comedy began pre-production life in Manchester (where it's set), at Contact Theatre. Kershaw started (some years ago) with two images: a decrepit model village and the mundane proximity to the stars of gate-keepers at Granada Studios, home of Coronation Street, which obsesses several characters here.
But not Lesley, big, brash, obscene and sex-obsessed Granada gate-woman (excellent Lorraine Bruce). She fits the impromptu part arranged in their garish, squalid flat by Corrie-obsessed Maize brothers, assertively realistic Gerry and sympathetically slower-minded Vince (outstanding performances by James Weaver and Andrew Grose). Along with cross-dressing, skin-infected Uncle Dave and silent, bike-helmet clad Elvis, the brothers plan to kidnap a Coronation Street star in the inexplicable hope he'll help them relaunch the model village built from their dead dad's redundancy money.
Nancy Surman's bright, clashing set, a room full of detritus (including a Guide Dogs collecting point) suits these chaotic characters. Though not for polite ears, the first half shows Kershaw as a writer with an ear for the patterns and structures of comic dialogue, as well as a witty, economic style. Together with Lawrence Till's flawlessly-acted production the sort that works so smoothly it takes conscious effort to realise how much detail has gone into making things so perfect it creates a lot of goodwill for the more problematic second act.
This is where Kershaw's credibility-stretching plot comes into full play. It's been well-prepared before the interval, but to bring it full-circle and explore its thematic significance means cut-backs in the one-liners and overall comedy quotient. Set in the brothers' run-down model village, there's the need for a lot of to-and-froing to leave appropriate characters alone together, while Kershaw also has to work round a couple of people who are silent for long-stretches.
Yet, even if the showbiz finale, with amplified Frank Sinatra and money raining down, isn't quite prepared dramatically, the play brings its dysfunctional relationships unsentimentally together. As a comic exploration of people needing people and breaking free of living lived by proxy through soap stars, Get Ken Barlow brings a new, purposefully comic voice to British theatre.
Lesley: Lorraine Bruce
Elvis: Jesse Civilian
Dave/Wayne Midnight: David Crellin
Vince Maize: Andrew Grose
Mary: Janice McKenzie
Garry Maize: James Weaver
Director: Lawrence Till
Designer: Nancy Surman
Lighting: Mark Doubleday
Assistant directors: Anthony Biggs, Ian Wainwright
2005-07-10 12:08:42