TALENT To 6 April 2008.
London.
TALENT
by Victoria Wood
Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Highgate Village N6 4BD To 6 April 2008.
Tue-Sat 8pm Mat Sun 4pm.
Runs 1hr 50min One interval.
TICKETS: 020 8340 3488.
www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com
Review: Geoff Ambler 11 March 2008.
Expect lots of laughs, great Wood music, a hat- ful of wee and some inspired Bingo.
Written in the early years of Victoria Wood's career, Talent already displays her style, while Maureen is a character written and performed with her particular humour.
Set in the backroom of a nightspot during a talent contest, the story follows two friends, Julie (Stephanie Briggs), a pretty blonde office girl with singer aspirations, hoping to be noticed after winning the competition. And Vikki Stone’s Maureen, her put-upon larger friend, along for support, fetching drinks and carrying the bags. Talent is a wonderfully observed piece of writing, interspersed with Wood’s wit-filled musical numbers.
Stone, an accomplished young comedian, is a marvel in the role created by Victoria Wood and while watching her Maureen you see and hear Wood, and gain an understanding of the wisdom of a girl generally overlooked on the periphery of life, but with a strong sense of fun and a grasp of realities. Stone gains sympathy, as is apparent at the end of the evening when she decides to get her tissues ready and the audience scream No!
Briggs gives Julie both blond naiveté and a nervous self belief, dreaming of using her never-seen talents to lift herself out of the drudgery of life. Wood’s observations are as relevant today as they were thirty years ago when Opportunity Knocks was the X-Factor of the seventies. The celebrity-obsessed world we live in is still populated by Julies.
The other contestants we see are a marvellous pairing of magician and assistant in the form of Harry Dickman and John Walters, as George and Arthur, two aged friends with many wonderful comedy moments and more indication of the Talent Wood alludes to. Charlie Carter plays the evening’s remaining parts of Mel and the Compere and it’s as the Compere that he steals scenes, introducing both the casting couch for Julie and the front seat of his Cortina for Maureen.
Talent is rarely revived and it’s a marvel to watch one of Wood's early works, brought to life by director John Plews who again makes The Gatehouse one of the best reasons to leave the beaten track and visit the Fringe.
Maureen: Vikki Stone.
Julie: Stephanie Briggs.
Mel/Max: Charlie Carter.
George: Henry Dickman.
Arthur: John Walters.
Director: John Plews.
Designer: Mike Lees.
Lighting: Howard Hudson.
Musical Director: Vikki Stone.
Choreographer: Racky Plews.
2008-03-17 02:07:30