See How They Run - Review

See How They Run was first performed in 1944, the year before World War 2 ended and has become one of the classic British farces.  Director Juliet Forster (Blue/Orange, Angels & Insects) has brought See How They Run to York for a new run; farce is undergoing something of a revival as a genre in the Theatre apparently.  The play is a tale of confusion, mistaken identity, vicars, soldiers, maids and more.  It is also a very cheeky comedy.

We opened with messages emblazoned across the curtain, flickering like those old newsreels you see in movies, setting the wartime scene nicely.  Once those curtains opened, we were in the Vicarage of small town Merton-cum-Middlewick, a massive set of some complexity.  In essence the set is a living room, but as we were to find out later, many doorways leading off it would come into play.

Retired actress and niece of a bishop Mrs Toop (Faye Winter) is now married to the local vicar, living with small town gossips, shocked by her lively personality, who receives a visit from an old actor friend, now a soldier, and decide to go for a night out.  To tell you much more would rob you of some of the highlights of the show but suffice to say, at one point there are four men dressed as vicars, a parish lady in a cupboard, a Bishop (Matthew Rixon) in his pyjamas and a whole lot of shenanigans.

A very game cast, give it their all in a very physical show, running in and out of doors, up and down stairs, changing outfits and pulling unconscious people around the set.  All this while maintaining composure with some very silly dialogue (in a good way).

My wife and I enjoyed ourselves immensely, and the biggest laughs were pulled out by Lucy Phelps as the cheeky maid Ida, and Philip Mansfield as replacement vicar Humphrey.  The whole cast got big laughs and this productions ensemble is excellent, balanced perfectly between the physicality of the slapstick and the clever wordplay of the script.  Precise timing is required to pull off gags like these, both verbally and physically and they nailed it. The commitment from the actors means this play deserves a big audience, I would happily bring anyone from 8-80 to see it, great fun.

Ardal O'Hanlon- Review

Venue: York Barbican, September 22, 2013

Ardal O’Hanlon is better known in mainland UK as the simpleton Dougal in Channel 4’s classic sitcom Father Ted, or as a rubbish superhero in My Hero, although he was a stand up comic long before that in Ireland. 

I have always found O’Hanlon to be a likeable, amusing sort of chap without ever being “must see” on the stand up circuit, so I was intrigued to see a full length show from him.

We started with a support set from Edinburgh Comedy Awards Nominee Aisling Bea. She was nominated for best newcomer at this year’s Edinburgh Festival, and based on this performance, I can see why.

Her material was strong, covering several well worn topics (girls in nightclubs, going home to be disapproved of by parents) in a refreshing way, her stage persona just giving you the impression she is slightly off-kilter without alienating the audience.
Following an interval, O’Hanlon took to the stage, with his usual slightly shambling entry, sheepish look on his face to a huge round of applause.
He proved that there is more to him than just Dougal shenanigans with a meandering set covering his desire at being a footballer when he grew up, all the way to “sex is pretty good isn’t it?”
The crowd seemed to take to him immediately, chuckling along as he described his first chat show appearance and being a father. It seemed occasionally that he was just plucking things at random to talk about, but a general theme of getting old and having to be a grown up kept us running along nicely.
O’Hanlon possesses an easy charm, the youthful face of Dougal winning over even this most cynical of reviewers.
If you want hard hitting political satire, go see someone else. But for gentle, consistent laughs told with a wink and a knowing smile, you could do a lot worse than catch Ardal O’Hanlon on tour.

Andy Parsons- Review

Andy Parsons is best known as “the bald guy from Mock The Week“.  He has been a stand up for a long time; I have memories of his duo Parsons & Naylor doing bad karaoke on Channel 5 in the Nineties.

Parsons has a very unique style of comedy. His voice is distinctive and I always think it feels quite condescending, and that is perhaps unfair to him. 
He clearly has fans, and the show was much fuller than I was expecting. To me Parsons has always been the seat filler on Mock The Week, content to chip in occasionally as his panel mates move onto bigger things (Russell Howard, Frankie Boyle). 
This I’ve Got A Shed tour is based around the principle that Parsons is a normal sort of bloke, who gets frustrated at the stupidity of life. Welcome to the club Andy…
Parsons does his own introduction, setting the scene nicely, introducing himself as “a man too cheap to have a support act” which means two sets from Parsons himself. This is fairly unusual in itself, a lot of comedians take a support on tour with them so only have to do one set. Although as someone who has to come up with new material weekly for TV I imagine he has a lot to choose from.
The first half was the stronger. Much of it was material I could have taken my mum to, and judging by the average age of the audience, she would have fitted in well.
Solid but unspectacular, amusing but not hysterical, Parsons’ best routine was a sequence about how annoying it is calling your bank. Earth shattering stuff.
Unfortunately, while it was all enjoyable enough, it felt more like a string of bits from Mock The Week than a properly put together show – although there were a few nice call-back gags to wrap things up.  Unchallenging but entertaining enough.

51 Shades Of Maggie- Review

 

As a member of the opposite sex to the target audience of EL James’ 50 Shades Of Grey, I was a little apprehensive when it came to reviewing a spoof stage show version.  I haven’t read it, have no interest in doing so, in fact everything I know of it really comes from a comedian friend of mine doing a ‘bit’ featuring Frank Spencer reading it aloud.

Emmerdale star and lads mag darling Adele Silva plays Maggie Muff (I know, not a great start!), a young woman from the East End of London, drinking, smoking and sleeping around, when she meets a man working at the Dole office, who she calls ‘Mr Big’. What follows is their 50 Shades inspired relationship. 

 Adele Silva is a more talented actress than I gave her credit for, this being a one woman show, she conveyed several characters through vocal and physical mannerisms really well, possibly the only reason I stayed till the end (other than writing this review).  The show itself is all over the place, written by a woman, Leesa Harker, who doesn’t seem to know anything about women. Full of mystifying behaviours, ‘Mr Big’ seems to work at the Dole office, yet somehow has a cut glass accent and the money to lavish on Maggie, but who also uses the office resources to quasi-stalk unemployed women.  More disturbing even is the way in which his desires for Maggie take a horrendous turn, yet Maggie seems to shrug off being assaulted, not some kinky sex but actual physical abuse, with no consequences.

The plays major strength is in Silva, her physical performance raises a few chuckles, but she is ill served by a crude, crass script which I was uncomfortable hearing.  I’m not afraid of a little bad language, especially when it is warranted, but this was a barrage of foul mouthed opinions masquerading as feminism.  Maybe it would have been funnier if I had read 50 Shades, but somehow I doubt it.  For me, it is a seriously misjudged play, rescued from being truly awful by Adele Silva’s committed and gutsy performance.  Someone should write her some better material... In the meantime, I will try to cleanse my mind of ever having seen this play by looking at pictures of Ms Silva from years gone by...

 

The Way Way Back

When the summer movie season comes around, it is usually the blockbusters people get excited abvout, this year it was Iron Man 3, Star Trek 2, The Wolverine and a fair few others.  Not in my house.  The second I saw the trailer for ‘The Way Way Back’ I knew it was my kind of film.  I knew I would like it, but I hoped I would love it.

 

Marketed like ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ and written/directed by Oscar winning duo Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, ‘The Way Way Back’ is the kind of film that rarely gets made anymore.  I haven’t see na really good coming of age movie since ‘The Wackness’.  This looked like it could be the next.

Toni Collette (playing her usual archetype) and Steve Carell (nicely against expectations as an arrogant bully) reunite to play mother and her boyfriend to Duncan (Liam James), on a trip to an unspecified coastal resort for the summer.  The kind of place that only exists in American movies, people have a beach house, no one locks their doors and there is no threat from crime of any kind. Into this we meet Duncan, a quiet, angry 14 year old who clearly has no interest in being there.  As AnnaSophia Robb’s girl next door Susanna says ‘It’s like spring break for adults’ as the parent figures disappear to drink and do whatever.  Duncan spends his days avoiding people by cycling around the town, until he discovers Water Wizz, a water park and wanders in.  He is befriended by park manager Owen (Sam Rockwell) and his crew of misfits.  To tell you more would rob you of a touching, sweet set of relationships to discover.

Liam James (young Shawn in Psych) is excellent as Duncan, his gangly frame and sullen facial expressions convey great pathos and make the smiles all the more welcome.  The real fun comes from Sam Rockwell, who is pure charisma, and his minions, including a restrained turn from Bridesmaids’ Maya Rudolph.

To say I enjoyed this film would be unfair, I’m still in a good mood the next morning.  I did love it, even Rob Corddry’s annoying face wasn’t enough to put me off.  I don’t think it would be too much of a stretch to say this is my film of the year so far, and something else is going to have to be exquisite to beat it.  10/10

See the TRAILER here...  http://youtu.be/OwNo1i3jkCo