LAUREL AND HARDY. To 31 May.
Ipswich/Basingstoke/Northampton.
LAUREL AND HARDY
by Tom McGrath.
New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich To 3 May
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat 30 April, 3 May 2.30pm.
Audio-described 30 April 2.30pm.
BSL Signed 25 April.
Post-show talk 1 May.
Runs 2hr 10min One interval.
TICKETS: 01473 295900.
www.wolseytheatre.co.uk (Ipswich)
then Haymarket Theatre Basingstoke
Tue-Sat 7.30pm Mat Thu & Sat 2pm.
TICKETS: 01256 844244
www.anvilarts.org.uk (Basingstoke)
and Royal Theatre Northampton
20-31 May 2008.
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat Thu & Sat 2.30pm.
TICKETS: 01604 624811
www.royalandderngate.co.uk (Northampton)
Review: Timothy Ramsden 23 April.
Enjoyable journey through the lives of cinema’s greatest comic pair.
Watching several productions of Tom McGrath’s 1976 play suggests it needs just three things: 1. casting Stan; 2. casting Olly, and 3. make it short. Peter Rowe’s fluid theatricality, which has often been practised with actor-musicians, fits McGrath’s play, which keeps shifting into Stan and Olly sketches, rather than song and dance. His production runs 20 minutes less than one I saw last year, and while there’s some loss in the darker second half, overall there’s a gain.
The play supposes the great film comedy-duo meet after death and review their lives. Both ran away to variety; only Olly went back home, while, over in England, Stan (originally family name Jefferson) stole his showman-father’s trousers and was surprised not to face parental wrath when taking to the stage with father’s rival instead of going into respectable business.
Life continues to have anxieties. Stan’s weakness is women, and as the pair play just about everyone, this means Christian Patterson in a dress throwing the far slighter figure of Ben Fox around a double-bed. Oliver seems lifelong to be rebelling against the solidity of his parental home, seeking danger in gambling and enjoying life away from the camera.
In their films he’s the organised one, seeking to control Stan’s waywardness and partial understanding, but in reality, McGrath shows Stan had the purpose. Olly was just a big happy Babe.
Fox makes Stan’s point clearly after producer Hal Roach has succoured Olly into another bum contract. Facing the mogul’s charge that it’s the objectivity of directors which created their success, Stan makes the point he’s a director too.
Both performers catch their originals’ essence: Hardy’s surprising lightness and feminine grace, Stan’s unreflective naivety. They’re blessed in Greg Palmer, who not only tickles some mean ivories at the stage’s side but is no slouch in the several lines of dialogue he’s allotted.
Rowe’s direction ensures the Laurel and Hardy sketches interlace seamlessly with McGrath’s reflections on the two. Other productions may have caught more of the sadness in this retro-view’s later years, but this one has abundant energy and affection for its comedy heroes.
Stan Laurel: Ben Fox.
Oliver Hardy: Christian Patterson.
Pianist: Greg Palmer.
Director: Peter Rowe.
Designer: Richard Foxton.
Lighting: James Farncombe.
Composer/Musical Director: Greg Palmer.
Choreographer: Francesca Jaynes.
2008-04-24 02:51:21