Jane Eyre: tours till 27 January

JANE EYRE: story adapted by Andy Barrow
ODDSOCKS PRODUCTIONS on tour
Runs: 2.5 hours, one interval, till 27 January
Review: Rod Dungate, mac Birmingham, 23 January

A raucous and immensely enjoyable knees-up
Oddsocks have a significant, faithful following. This is the first of their shows I've managed to see and I now understand why the following: watching their JANE EYRE is like being at a raucous and immensely enjoyable knees-up. Young, old and (importantly) middle aged laugh freely at the company's outrageous, and at times outrageously lavatorial, humour.

And it's all done with winks, nods and little bits of direct address. Those who know what to expect love it; those of us who don't, love it and love the sharing the experience with those who do.

Oddsocks founder, Elli Mackenzie, introduces the show as the 'pop up' Jane Eyre. In a delightfully witty set it's pop up, pop out and swing round. The show is never still, humour bubbles away and is never let go off the boil. The story (adapted by Andy Barrow) treats the novel with all the disrespect it, if not exactly deserves, must surely be strong enough to stand up to. They say the things we've always privately thought about the book, cutting it down to size.

But the secret for Oddsocks' success is not in their outrageous comedy: it's in their disciplined approach to what looks spontaneous. Delights there are aplenty. Rochester's daughter, Adele, is a rag-doll puppet; in one glorious moment Lady Ingram unknowingly sits on Adele's foot, not only does Adele shriek (silently) but also, freed eventually from the imprisoning buttock, repeatedly flops her leg up and down to see if it's broken. Comedy emerges when moments are taken too literally or pushed to their limits see Rochester's horse react at the thought of being mounted (!) by his master. And I'm far too polite to mention the reasons actor Peter 'Isn't-physical-theatre-wonderful' Machen reckons he's been cast in the role of a horse.

Great ensemble work from the whole team guarantee the pleasure of this two and a half hour party in which irreverence is the order of the day.

Acting Company
Louise Shuttleworth
Elli Mackenzie
Pam Jolley
Robin Simpson
Peter Machen

Director: Andy Barrow

2004-01-24 16:34:25