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| Witty Scrooge Steeles panto |
SCROOGE
Palladium by Sam Jones
TOMMY Steele is a proper star. I seem to have grown up with this
archetypal cheeky chappie, with his toothy grin and sparkly-eyed
wink, whose performance in the film Half a Sixpence I rank well
up there with the great musicals of the 1950s and 60s. So when I
saw him advertising Scrooge, and obviously playing the miser himself,
I wondered how he would manage a part that is the antithesis of
all we imagine Steele to be.
In fact he does remarkably well. It helps, also, that the production
around him is of enormous quality – a pantomime Dickensian
feast of golds and browns and Steele the wizened, sprightly centrepiece.
He still has that foghorn voice that hurls itself across the auditorium.
He is a very good singer and actor, a less energetic dancer but
a compelling presence nonetheless.
When he enters we know it is the point at which we should applaud.
Laughter is not far from the tip of every line he delivers.
No one does earnest joy or broken hearted like Steele so he turns
out to be an inspired choice for the part of Scrooge, his transformation
to the nice Scrooge less a transformation than a complete and utter
return to the Tommy Steele we know and love. By the end of his third
encore, the audience clapping in rhythm, he had to tell us all to
go home.
I took my nine-year-old niece and she loved it. It is an unashamed
Christmas show and quite scary in places but children will enjoy
those thrills which are a clever part of the action. Leslie Bricusse
wrote the songs and this master of the music and lyric (Victor/Victoria,
Doctor Doolittle) is entirely at home here with songs that are perhaps
less memorable than others of his composition. He however makes
a really charming and traditional sound like a real musical should.
Barry Howard does well as Jacob Marley and vocally Tom Solomon stands
out as the young Ebenezer and James Head is a booming-voiced Ghost
of Christmas Present.
This is a really lovely family show that also has a good smattering
of very adult jokes and so crosses even to those simply coming to
see the master himself. Highly recommended.
Until January 14
0870 890 1108
Gay lovers are exposed for all
JOE AND I
The King’s Head by Emily Dugan
INTIMATE theatre is always a gamble. When Joe strips down to
his costume for the evening – a pair of pants – it is
hard not to wish you are in the West End, several hundred seats
back, with an obscured view ticket.
Laurie Slade’s juxtaposition of three generations of gay playwrights
gives an unusual insight into Britain’s changing attitudes
towards homosexuality and the theatre.
While this meeting of ages allows us to observe the development
of theatrical style in the 20th century, it is often hard to tell
what sort of reality these characters exist in. Is Oscar Wilde a
ghost, haunting the lovers or is this just an imaginary space that
ignores time and logic?
Slade’s flexible approach to period and reality is one of the
more striking elements of the play, but it is also its flaw. When
Wilde peers through his opera glasses at the lovers undressing,
he raises a giggle, but his presence is superfluous, and dampens
the intensity of the scene.
Perhaps we need the distraction though. As Terry runs his fingers
down Joe’s naked chest, the audience is so close that you can
feel the collectively held breath as everyone hopes his wandering
hand wont reach the pouch of Joe’s Y-fronts. Peter Bowles is
excellent as the stiff, veteran playwright Terence Rattigan. Standing
with perfect posture, bemused by the abruptness of Joe’s seduction,
it is like watching Basil Fawlty with one of the Village People.
Until December 18
020 7266 1916
Uncanny look into alcohol hell
BLACKOUT
Courtyard by Ronan Murphy
BLACKOUT is a suitably bleak portrayal of the ravages of alcoholism,
articulated in the meeting of an alcoholics anonymous group on Christmas
Eve.
The play offers an interesting format in that it consists simply
of a series of monologues, telling the tale of their respective
descents into addiction.
In order to work, the play requires a feeling of total realism and
authenticity.
This is achieved thanks to the nuanced and fractured dialogue of
writer Gary Lennon, and the superb cast. In particular, Gary Lawrence
stands out in his portrayal of Tim, creating a character who never
appears comfortable and whose tale of family woe is the highlight
of the performance. It is unfortunate that this high point occurs
early on, as despite the quality of the acting there is little in
the way of dramatic impetus to many of the following stories, a
flaw which holds true for the play as a whole.
Lennon has recreated the feeling of an AA meeting almost too well,
as Blackout offers no sense of plot or resolution. Blackout represents
an interesting type of theatre experience.
The fine cast and dialogue are to be admired but one is left wondering
what exactly the point of the experience was. Blackout comes across
more as a master class in acting technique and realism than a coherent
piece of drama.
Until December 4
020 7833 0876
Some of Jonson’s undertones lost
VOLPONE
Etcetera by Rebecca Omonira
BEN Jonson’s enduring reputation rests on the comedies written
between 1605 and 1614. The first of these, Volpone, or The Fox,
is often regarded as his masterpiece. The play, though set in Venice,
directs its scrutiny on the rising merchant classes of Jacobean
London.
Having acquired huge wealth by dubious means, Volpone’s lust
for more cannot be satisfied honestly. With the help of his ambitious
and seemingly loyal servant Mosca, he concocts a plan. Faking a
fatal illness, Volpone watches as a lawyer, merchant and rich cripple
fight to become his heir by showering him with gifts, money and
in one tragic case, a spouse.
Jonson’s story of a man who ends up a victim of his own avarice
explores the many faces of greed. Mosca deftly orchestrates the
collision of ego, greed and vulgarity creating a monster of humanity
at its worst. Consumed by the power given to her by the weakness
of others, Mosca becomes a threat to Volpone himself.
The heavy undertones of Volpone are lost, however, in this production.
Instead Teatro-Saurus present a farcical, slightly tiring interpretation.
Although it amuses in places, the constant histrionics from characters
such as Lady Would-Be and Corbaccio became invasive. But Rose Warman
bought Mosca’s shrewdness to life excellently. Some of the
best scenes were when William Tombs (Volpone) was in dialogue with
her.
Until December 4
020 74824857
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Angelino's finest are put to the test
WE came across Angelino Wines, sandwiched between two colourful and
aggressively self-promoting Australian wine sellers, at Islington’s
London Wine Event at the end of October.
Its owner is Farrell Anglin, whose imagination was caught by a lecture
on the history of wine making at Southgate College.
FULL STORY
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