RICHARD III To 28 August.

Tour.

RICHARD III
by William Shakespeare adapted by Andy Barrow.

Oddsocks Productions Tour to 28 August 2009.
Full Tour Info 01773 540962 www.oddsocks.co.uk.
Runs 2hr 30min one interval
Performance times: Mostly 7.30pm but varies with venue.
Review: Alan Geary 29 July at Nottingham Castle.

Oddsocks’ best summer show for years.
What with a male actor having to stand in for Kaitlin Howard, who was indisposed, a delayed start caused by a breakdown - mechanical not nervous - and the monsoon conditions, this was less than an ideal evening for Oddsocks. But with Richard III they contrived to deliver their best summer show for years, which is a considerable claim.

Adaptor/Director Andy Barrow is superb in the central role. He’s a brilliant comic by any standards, with a lot of (apparent) ad-libbing and beautifully timed double-takes. His writing adds lots of laughs to the Shakespeare text yet manages to leave much of the greatness of the original intact.

Throughout the evening every opportunity for raising a laugh is shamelessly exploited by the whole cast. Clarence isn’t simply drowned in the butt of malmsey: they stuff him right into that butt so that he disappears never to be seen again. And the smothering of the two princes in the Tower, each with his own teddy bear, is outrageously funny.

There’s more bad taste. One of Andrew McGillan’s characters just happens to be carrying a full chamber-pot and gets splashed, twice, by its contents; later the same character is splashed by the King’s vomit, a pot of which he just chances to be nursing under his nose.

Barrow is ably supported by, besides McGillan, who’s very short, Edward Day, who’s very tall, Neal Craig with a stubble, and Harriet Rose, who’s very pretty and who gets enticed by Richard’s false nose into marrying him. Kim Ramsorrun, standing in for Howard and looking cheerfully masculine, makes the fact that he’s reading his script for most of the time into a virtue - he seems to be all eyebrows.

As always with Oddsocks, the cast are multi-talented. There’s plenty of cart-wheeling, and they all contribute to the musical element, which is very entertaining.

Go and see this one.

Cast: Andy Barrow, Edward Day, Neal Craig, Andrew McGillan, Harriet Rose, Kee Ramsorrun (standing in for Kaitlin Howard).

Director: Andy Barrow.

2009-07-31 02:01:48