MY FAVOURITE SUMMER. To 15 November.
Hull.
MY FAVOURITE SUMMER
by Nick Lane.
Hull Truck Theatre To 15 November 2008.
Mon-Sat 8pm Mat 5, 15 Nov 2pm
Runs 2hr 20min One interval.
TICKETS: 01482 323638.
www.hulltruck.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 1 November.
Laugh-aloud comedy; though the women of Scunthorpe might consider a class action for defamation.
Though it’s his desire for Sarah that drives underemployed drama graduate Dave to earn money by manual labour, the central relationship in Nick Lane’s comedy (revived as part of Hull Truck’s great-hits final season in their current home) is between Dave and co-worker Melvin.
If this were pure fiction, surely Melvin would be the name of the sensitive graduate, and Dave the down-to-earth worker. But Melvin, stuff-of-nightmares, wouldn’t see it like that. Thinking’s not his way; Melvin knows. And his sense of humour thrives on others’ natural misfortunes. A Melvin review would likely think the play a load of fanny, done by a lot of bummers, while if the roof fell in he’d piss himself laughing (the play’s recommended for 15+).
Yet, in his way Melvin wants to help Gary (it’s only the rest of the world that knows Gary as Dave). He enlists ex-wife Debs - Fiona Wass garishly fearful and one-eyed; Deb’s spectacles become the stuff of an hilarious cameo nightmare. Wass also plays Dave’s flatmate Sarah, unaware he loves her, and a character becoming increasingly bland as the play proceeds, while also providing a beautifully-judged picture of Dave’s mother, who knows her son’s ways and has an effortless answer each time.
Again, by the end Dave’s learned things as Gary he’d never learned before. And we’ve had a considerably better time than he has watching him acquire the wisdom. Doubtless Lane’s own experiences form a dollop of the stew, but he wisely presents it as Dave’s first play. This excuses the rickety-looking set (illuminated before the show by a battery of harsh white lights over the auditorium) with which designer Graham Kirk suggests the huge desolate space where the two men operate alone on closely-placed machines at a job Dave finds mindless, but which doesn’t worry Melvin.
It also allows Dave to speak to the audience, giving a perspective to the forceful Melvin, and ensuring the younger character isn’t subsumed by his formidable workmate. Matthew Booth’s light manner and acceptance of experience is aptly contrasted by Marc Bolton’s imperturbable Melvin, fearsome, yet with a sharp comic edge.
Dave: Matthew Booth.
Melvin: Marc Bolton.
Sarah: Fiona Wass.
Director: Nick Lane.
Designer/Lighting: Graham Kirk.
Costume: John Boddy.
2008-11-03 17:23:17