Cut
to the Chase at
the
Queen's Theatre Hornchurch
10.03.2014
We're
back in the Seventies – matador poster, inflatable chair,
downlighters and eye-watering wallpaper. Harold Wilson in
Westminster, Rodney Marsh at Wembley.
And
how titillating this title seemed back then – hinting at swingers,
free love and the permissive society. In fact, of course, there's no
sex to be had, and the very British plot revolves around a classic
midlife crisis.
George
[a very sensitive human being] has ditched his vest and acquired a
sports car, a yellow tracksuit and chest expanders. Out goes Oscar
Hammerstein; in comes Alice Cooper and “The Spew”. And could he
but find the courage, he would be unfaithful with Jane, a chance
acquaintance young enough to be his daughter …
Factor
in Jane's laid-back boyfriend, masquerading as a shrink, an actual
agony aunt, George's tolerant wife and Jane's actual father and you
have the makings of a farce in the tradition of Feydeau and Rix.
Cut
to the Chase pull out all the stops to breathe life into a somewhat
dated script by Richard Harris and Leslie Darbon.
Sean
Needham is outstanding as the pathetic George – shades of that
great comic actor Paul Eddington – working the inflatable chair,
doing a heroic double-take in the doorway. Callum Hughes is amusing
as Nick, seizing the opportunity for revenge by seducing his rival's
wife Clare [Claire Storey] but ending up on the couch himself. His
emancipated live-in girlfriend is played with gusto by Ellie Rose
Boswell, making her first appearance at the Queen's. The sextet is
completed by Georgina Field's Aunt Ruth [aka Madam Zenda] and Simon
Jessop's nicely drawn dad in flares.
The
superb split set [Claire Lyth] cleverly contrasts the bourgeois and
the bohemian, but the farce only really takes off when the two
settings begin to mirror each other and overlap, ending up with all
six characters coming home to roost in Clare's lovely lounge. But
despite the frantic scoffing of sandwiches and slamming of doors,
there is too much talk, not enough manic action for a true farce. So
while Matt Devitt's production successfully captures the style, it is
somewhat let down by a lack of substance.
this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews
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