PETE 'N' ME. To 26 February.
London
PETE N' ME
by Tim Marriott
New End Theatre To 26 February 2005
Tue-Sat 7.30pm Sat & Sun 3.30pm
Runs 1hr 50min One interval
TICKETS: 0870 033 2733
Review: Timothy Ramsden 6 February
Onstage clown becomes dressing-room Hamlet in an intriguing new look at a comedy genius.Backstage after a new show that seems heading for disaster, Peter Cook clearly has genius but no sense. So drunk for opening night a stage manager had to face audience wrath by announcing a delayed start, Cook flings verbal vitriol at co-star Dudley Moore. Dud had missed the dress rehearsal to appear on TV's This Is Your Life' and Pete's drinking wasn't going to help matters.
Yet Moore was sober on stage; unfortunately it left his nerves showing through attempts to steer the evening to its final curtain, while the critics praised Cook's inspired improvisations. This 1972 show happened; it was Behind the Fridge, an all-too-obvious attempt to recapture youth's golden hour, when Pete n' Dud, with Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett, helped create the 1960s in Beyond the Fringe. Actually commissioned for the very official heart of the Edinburgh International Festival, this satirical show had been the moment when comedy's cutting-edge was taken over by the university wits.
Tim Marriott shows an aging Pete seducing and psychologically abusing his teenage stage manager Daisy, ambitious and over from Ireland. Lisa Hogg is outstanding, demure as a convent-educated girl yet emerging from her shell of politeness as both the fun and ridiculous sides of Cook impact on her. The show's producer, foreseeing disaster, commands her to do what he can't, and get Pete sober to the post-show party, while she's treated dismissively by Cook's lover.
Hogg shows the ability to be an evident part of the scene even when Daisy is being ignored, without overt effort, by strength of characterisation. She's a fine contrast for Jonathan Hansler's Cook, who's all genius and no self-control. Hansler moves between funny voice attempts to avoid responsibility (Peter Tinniswood made the same point in his backstage Rob Wilton play The Day War Broke Out), self-pity and eventual moments of truth.
Humiliation by a public school bully contributed to this messed-up genius. So, by implication, does the showbiz success ethic whereby producer Alex converts from rage to praise as whispers of positive reviews arrive to safeguard his investment. What chance has mere genius amid such practicality?
Daisy: Lisa Hogg
Peter Cook: Jonathan Hansler
Alex: Steve Devereaux
Judy Huxtable: Bonnie Langford
Director: Catriona McLaughlin
Designer: Kate Klinger
Lighting: Alex Watson
Sound: Darren Murphy
Costume: Penn O' Gara
Assistant director: Sean Donegan
2005-02-08 00:03:44