The question is: how do you write a play about a cherished institution without either turning it into sickly hagiography or an excoriating exposure of the ‘real’ subject. The answer, from writers, Hamish McColl, Sean Foley and Eddie Braben, is tangentially. The play is about a couple of vaudeville performers not playing Morecambe and Wise. The one, Dennis (Dennis Herdman) wants to do a play about the famous duo for the potential money, whilst the other, Thom (Thom Tuck – the short one) aspires to write serious theatre; the play what he wrote being a classical piece about the French Revolution. The term, ‘Classical’, is of course used in a way which would give the legitimate owner of said term solid grounds for legal action. In the second half of the evening the ‘play’ rapidly descends into something more akin to panto.
In fact a structure-less structure informs the whole entertainment which dashes along at an exuberant lick spinning off vaudeville sketches, gags and patter. The style is thoroughly eclectic (Max Wall and Carmen Miranda were notable inclusions) and slapstick, panto and comic melodrama all jostle for attention. Double entendres and word play add some yeast to the relentless action. And yet the spirit of Eric and Ernie flows through the whole evening. Signature gags and tropes leave us in no doubt as to what or rather who drives the breathless pace.
Mitesh Soni has fun with a drawer-full of characters that included the boys’ agent, a west-end producer, Scarlett Johansson and an aspiring harmonica player.
A staple of the Morecambe and Wise TV shows was the guest star brought in ostensibly to take the lead in Ernie’s play. Offering himself as ‘star turn’ or rather stooge to be the butt of jokes last night was, Tom Hiddleston (much fun with the mangling of his name). Playing up to the role of luvvie with a weary if patient and condescending resignation, Mr Hiddleston, nothing loath, was comfortable in the spirit of the thing and kept the ball in the air with a discernible twinkle.
Director, Sean Foley manages to make what could be a mere motley collection of sketches into a near seamless whole with nothing jarring or apparently out of place.
Looking around the audience as the laughter bubbled along I was struck by how many were too young to remember the days when the nation settled down in front of the telly for the unifying experience of laughter with the Morecambe and Wise show. John Gielgud, on an occasion asked by a drama student for advice, said the most important thing is to know the kind of show you were in. Last night was a masterclass in just that and delivered a show bursting with comic innovation and which didn’t rely on nostalgia, yet delivered a spoonful for those that had come for such a fix.
★★★★☆ Graham Wyles 13th January 2022
