OLD KING COLE. To 9 January.
London
OLD KING COLE
by Ken Campbell
Cochrane Theatre To 9 January 2005
Tue-Sun various dates10.15am 1.30pm 2pm 6pm 7pm no performance 25-27 Dec 1,3-4 Jan
Audio-described 14 Dec 1.30pm
TICKETS: 020 7269 1606
info@cochranetheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 12 December
A merry old time had by all.Almost 40 years on, Ken Campbell's madcap play for 6+ seems fresh as ever, if updated here and there with a lick of textual paint in Unicorn Theatre's production. From the black and silver film noir office where The Amazing Faz and his dim sidekick, the twit Twoo, hang out, they'd seem to be private dicks.
In fact they're doers of dastardly deeds from this dark den, aided by a suitcase labelled Paraphernalia. Despite this, and the nerdish Baron who employs them to help inflict himself on King Cole's eligible daughter Daphne, you'd expect them to be villains. Not a bit; the young audience members cheer them on enthusiastically as we leave Faz's improvised rat-trap behind and make off for the glorious Wembley games where the royal suitor is to be selected.
The dirty deed-doing duo conspire against bronzed athletic Cyril, the royal favourite, then try to disrupt the wedding. It all gets gloriously sillier as it goes on. Daphne's heart is stolen by Twoo, whose pockets have a Harpo Marx-like capacity to provide whatever she desires.
Even the adult-focused innuendo slides in so smoothly it doesn't interrupt younger delight, with spills, thumps, trouser-droppings and an ultimate outburst of Paraphernalia that's delightful throughout. Rebecca Gatward makes the most of Dick Bird's set plenty of space for physical cavortings, surrounded by raised walkways, and a promenade out into the stalls.
Nick Raggett and Ben Fox develop a splendid double-act. Fox, in particular, plays the dumb fool with sympathy and an inane smile at moments of success that put him in the line of sublime simpletons through the comic ages. James Cash, a blonde self-regarding figure in the Elvis mould, has an equally sublime arrogance that gives his conversion (via the influence of a ton weight on the head) into a chicken an hilarious impact.
Add Simon Hock's mix of Linaker and Lynam, plus two supremely starchy royals concerned for the proprieties and aware of little else from Malcolm James and Angela Bain, and Daniel Chute's awkward-looking Baron and here's a production that magnificently mirrors the deadpan surface covering Campbell's inspired theatrical lunacy.
The Amazing Faz: Nick Raggett
Twoo: Ben Fox
Cyril the Fiddler: James Cash
Princess Daphne: Leah Fletcher
Old King Cole: Malcolm James
Old Queen Cole: Angela Bain
Baron Wadd: Daniel Chute
MC: Simon Hock
Director: Rebecca Gatward
Designer: Dick Bird
Lighting: Colin Grenfell
Sound/Composer: Olly Fox
Choreographer: Claire Winsper
2004-12-13 00:55:37