THUNDERBIRDS F.A.B. Aldwych Theatre to 6 January
London
THUNDERBIRDS F.A.B.
by Andrew Dawson and Gavin Robertson. Additional material by Paul Kent and Wayne Forrester
Aldwych Theatre To 6 January 20092
Runs 1hr 40min One interval
TICKETS 0870 400 0805
Review Timothy Ramsden 13 December
Thunderbirds are going – this is the last chance to see or revisit the play of the TV series.What is this show? Well, it isn't Aladdin as Gavin Robertson pointed out, in one of the season's few genuine ad libs, when a young audience member became too enthusiastically involved with helping the villain evade justice.
Gerry Anderson's 1960s sci-fi TV series involving the interplanetary operation International Rescue was first staged by Dawson and Robertson in 1984. On and off, they've performed it ever since. And now the Tracy family, Lady Penelope, Parker, Brains and their Mysteron foes are on their last-ever outing.
Needless to say, the mime at the show's root is impeccable. The flopsy movement, exaggerated, at times inconsequential, slowed or speeded, is offered in every detail. When Anderson's marionettes bounced and bobbed around the scene the stylisation of human movement was noticed and accepted by the viewing mind. To see human actors create the movements loads on the artificiality. The puppets, being more in their element, seemed more real than do live actors.
Dawson and Robertson seem to perform miracles of body adjustment. Parts of the physique that must be providing a push to the body seem weightless and dragged along by invisible strings. The disparity between moving body parts and mono-expression faces is hilarious, as are the moments when action is suspended to let a facial expression register.
After this, Dawson's task of creating an imaginary tank and seeming to drown as it fills with water, is easy meat. There's a cutting parody of the way a cliffhanging moment is milked, with a cut away followed by a return to the crucial moment, which has now receded slightly to build further tension. Once rescued in the nick of time, Dawson makes you see and hear water gurgling down a drain with a few simple arm movements.
If you're a fan, you'll be in the cult and love it all. If not, you'll be impressed by the consummate skill of both performers and, just as you've decided enough's enough there'll be the Thunderbird craft themselves, famously guided around on the actors' heads as their fingers flail behind them to create exhaust trails. Ironically, this tribute to TV animation becomes a celebration of live performance skills.
Performed by
Andrew Dawson
Gavin Robertson,
or, on occasions
Wayne Forrester
Robert Thirtle
Designer: Graham Johnston
Lighting: Jon Linstrum/Phil Supple
Sound: Sev Lewkowicz
Costume: Lizzy Crewe
Models: Richard Gregory, Toby Chamberlain
Music: Barry Gray
2001-12-14 01:15:52