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Made
in Colchester at the Mercury Theatre
19.03.2014
Not
since Babe has there been such a winsome pig to tug at the
heart-strings.
Betty
is the clandestine hog roast on the hoof in Alan Bennett's film A
Private Function, now, thirty years on, setting out on an ambitious
tour of the UK as Betty Blue Eyes.
No
animatronics here, but a charming puppet, with a permanently puzzled,
trusting expression and a lovely land-girl handler [Lauren Logan].
The
Yorkshire humans whose lives are touched by the eponymous pig are led
by the show's stars, Hadyn Oakley as mild-mannered chiropodist
Gilbert Chilvers and his Lady Macbeth, Amy Booth-Steel. Both giving
bold but nuanced musical comedy performances, with impressive vocal
work – A Place on the Parade, for example.
But
as is often the case with musicals, it is the supporting roles that
have the most fun. Kit Benjamin, exactly capturing the period style
in his florid villain Dr Swaby. Sally Mates as Mother Dear – a real
treat, this: her histrionic reaction to a perceived death threat,
emoting on the staircase whilst taming a wayward door [one of several
technical gremlins plaguing this press night] amongst many memorable
moments. And Tobias Beer's demoniacal Government Inspector,
brandishing his green paintbrush. Beer manages to make his numbers
sound like Sondheim or Weill, no mean achievement. Elsewhere the
score is more like standard-issue Bricusse, and fares best in those
numbers which are staged with a clear sense of style [choreography by
Andrew Wright] – the Morris-men hankies and the DofE Maypole, the
pissoir Since The War, the knives and forks for the Mock Pork, the
baskets for the ration-book housewives, the chorus in hairnets and
trilbys for Joyce's fantasy, the splendid curtain call with the pink
wellies, the blitz ballroom flash-back [stunningly agile jiving] and
the gloriously operatic Pig/No Pig.
It's
always a joy to see actor/musicians, and the occasional appearance of
a solo violin reminds us of the piece's Bennett roots, that and the
Leeds butchers and the wry one-liners which survive from the original
script.
Daniel
Buckroyd's inventive, economical production is set on a utility-grey
set [designed by Sara Perks]: loads of doors and an ingenious
fold-out parlour. The show is lovingly staged, with a fine sense of
period.
Occasionally,
in the longer vocal numbers, one might muse on how much the music
actually adds to the drama and the comedy, but it's impossible not to
warm to this poignant pig-tale of austerity and ingenuity in those
dark postwar days.
production photograph: Robert Day
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