In order to put on a really successful one-person show, there are two main elements that have to be in place. The first is an engaging story that will capture the attention, and secondly a performer that can instantly connect with the audience and have them on his or her side throughout. A brilliant practitioner of the one man show principles described above is writer/actor Jack Lane who has brought his show Wisdom of a Fool to the Lost Theatre.
Wisdom of a Fool is a lovely walk through the life of one of the funniest entertainers ever to have graced the stage – Sir Norman Wisdom. Jack plays Norman and plays the part to perfection. From the moment he walks onstage, Jack brings every mannerism and quirky gesture so beloved of the great man to life. In addition, though, Jack also plays thirty other characters that Norman encounters through his life. Included in this list are Norman’s parents, celebrities like Rex Harrison, and David Nixon, theatrical impresario Val Parnell and a suspiciously mobile civil servant by the name of Hobson to name but a few. Each character is distinct and separate from the others but above them all, it is Norman that really stands out.
And let’s be honest, Norman’s story is pretty amazing. If he had been in another century, Norman’s life could easily have been the basis for the opera Pagliacci – the story of a performer who hides his personal sadness behind the mask of a clown. Abandoned by his mother, beaten by his father, Norman fitted a heck of a lot in his early years. Running away from home, walking to Cardiff and joining the army whilst underage are just some of his accomplishments before his fifteenth birthday.
Jack has obviously carried out a lot of research to put Wisdom of a Fool together – indeed, he acknowledges the assistance of Norman’s children, Nick and Jacqui in not only providing family detail but also for the loan of Norman’s original ‘Gump’ suit. The research really shows with the wealth of detail that comes out but this is not just a list of biographical data, though with Norman’s rich and varied life that would be interesting by itself. Jack provides a first-rate performance which really shows his affection and admiration of Norman and his works.
The one problem is that there is so much to Norman’s life that it is impossible to get through it all in a two-act play. As I was leaving, I heard some other members of the audience saying that the ending was too sudden and I sort of agree with them. This is a play that leaves its audience really craving more and I really hope that Jack does another version covering Norman’s later life and his – for want of a better word – second burst of fame in the 1980s and 90s. However, until that is written, we will have to be content with this first-rate show that is respectful but never sycophantic to the memory of Norman. Thanks to Jack, I feel sure that the memory of one of Britain’s finest comic institutions will live on forever so that “Norman Pitkin’s” desperate cry, “Mr Grimsdale” will continue to raise a knowing laugh whenever and wherever it is heard. A first rate performance that pays perfect homage to the one and only Norman.
Dawid Minnar Janine Ulfane – Photograher credit Alixandra Fazzina. “Survival of the fittest” is a phrase that originated from Darwinian evolutionary theory as a way of describing the mechanism of natural selection. Which means that even in the most inhospitable of placers, life will find a way – even if at times, you may look and think what’s the point? For example, in South Africa, the aloe plant is considered one of the country’s most powerful, beautiful and celebratory symbols. It survives out in the wild when everything else is dried. At the end of everything, the aloe is still there. And it is this survival that is at the heart of Athol Fugard’s A Lesson From Aloes which has returned to the UK and is currently in residence at the Finborough Theatre. Set in South Africa in 1963, where apartheid is at its height and the citizens are living in a paranoid police state. The play revolves around a middle-aged left-leaning couple – Afrikaner Piet Bezuidenhout (Dawid Minnaar) and hi
Since 1912, the Blackburn Musical Theatre Company has been entertaining the theatre going folks of this Lancashire town with their annual musical production. In that time, they have covered the vast array of musical theatre from their first production - Sunday - through to their latest - Hello Dolly - which I caught at the Blackburn Empire Theatre. Dolly Gallagher Levi (Sue Chadwick) is a woman that likes to meddle, or as she puts it, arrange things. Whatever you need doing, Dolly is the person for the job. And right now, she is the talk of turn of the century New York, having brought together Mr Horace Vandergelder (Kris Wlodarczyk), the well-known half-a-millionaire and Mrs Irene Molloy (Laura Mitchell) a widowed millener. Their engagement and subsequent marriage seems pretty much sewn up though neither is marrying for love. Horace, as he tells his Chief Clerk, Cornelius Hackl (Ryan Coe), and Assistant, Barnaby Tucker (Fletcher Illingworth), is looking for someone to r
Since July 2014, I've seen and reviewed 588 shows altogether. 2017 was a fairly quiet year with a total of 132 shows visited by yours truly. So, in the best traditions of end of the year ideas, here is my list of the top 10 shows that I've seen this year. Please remember, this is my list not anybody else's and if you don't agree with the pick, well, what can I say? 1. Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Bridewell Theatre This story of friendship and hope took two drag queens and a trans woman from Sydney to Alice Springs, in a big pink bus. Along the way, the met new friends and face rampant homophobia. SEDOS brought every element of the show together beautifully, and to a standard that you would expect to see in the West End. Sold out virtually as soon as it was announced, this was the ‘must see production of the year. 2. La Cage aux Folles, New Wimbledon Theatre This is was a touring production of a show that demonstrates the importance of family a
Comments
Post a Comment