Sandy Pritchard-Gordon

Sandy Pritchard-Gordon
Theatre Blog

Sunday 27 May 2012

The Sunshine Boys at The Savoy Theatre


Danny De Vito is a small but perfectly formed legend, whilst Richard Griffiths is a somewhat larger one.  Put them together in a play by the masterful Neil Simon and it should be a recipe for success.  Except that it kind of isn’t!!  Great to be able to say I’ve seen the Hollywood star and Withnail and I treasure on stage but, unfortunately, Thea Sharrock’s production of The Sunshine Boys doesn’t quite hit the mark.  It’s true that I went to an early preview performance, so I’m sure the production has tightened considerably, but the chemistry between the two marvellous actors was somewhat lacking and the pace flagged.

The play concerns two old comedians, Willie Clark (Danny De Vito) and Al Lewis (Richard Griffiths) whose vaudeville double act is the stuff of legend.  The only problem is that, although Al retired from the act eleven years ago, they actually hadn’t spoken off stage for twelve months prior to that and now CBS-TV have offered them a one-sketch reunion.  Willie’s long-suffering nephew and agent, Ben Silverman, excellently played by Adam Levy, is more than keen for the two old comedians to bury the hatchet and do the show, but it’s an up-hill struggle.  Willie is holed up in an old Broadway hotel spending his days plodding about in jim-jams and scanning Variety magazine for show-biz obituaries, whilst Al has moved to New Jersey to live with his daughter and family.  Neither want to see each other, let alone re-kindle their working partnership, but somehow Ben persuades them to change their mind and they finally get together to rehearse thirty minutes into the First Act.  Nothing’s changed;  Al still prods Willie in the chest and spits at him whenever he uses the letter T and the bickering and hostility hasn’t deteriorated over the intervening years.

Unfortunately there is no emotional depth between these two old vaudevillians, although their legendary doctor sketch in Act Two does bring some laugh-out loud moments. On the plus side, the relationship between Willie and his nephew is totally believable as is the interaction with the latter character and the Nurse, beautifully portrayed by Johnnie Fiori.  I’m not sure if the piece misfires because it’s difficult to believe the two old curmudgeons were once great comedic partners or because the whole play is just rather dated and overly long. 

It’s a great pity because De Vito and Griffiths are great actors in their own right, just not together on stage at The Savoy Theatre in this particular play.


















Thursday 17 May 2012

Detroit at The Cottesloe


An American play by Lisa D’Amour was our first theatre trip in June.  Entitled Detroit and playing at The Cottesloe it centres around two disparate couples whose backyards join.  Like Clybourne Park, Detroit aims to dissect America suburban life by showing how the two households interact.  Unlike Clybourne Park, it doesn’t really succeed, although I did thoroughly enjoy the process, mainly because of the excellent performances of the cast. 
Kenny (Will Adamsdale) and Sharon (Clare Dunne) have just moved in next door.  Fresh out of rehab and twitchy and nervous, on the surface they couldn’t be more different from Ben (Stuart McQuarrie) and Mary (Justine Mitchell).  Whilst the newcomers are struggling to keep body and soul together and trying very hard to hide their inadequacies, their neighbours are solidly middle class, successful professionals.  Or are they?  As the play progresses we realise the four of them have more in common than we realise.  Mary turns out to be a closet drinker, whilst husband, Ben is living a lie.  Having been fired from his bank job, he stays at home all day, supposedly designing a financial services website.  Except that he isn’t as immersed in this activity as he should be;  most of the time he is acting out his fantasy of being a British geography teacher called Ian.  This disclosure makes for one of the funniest moments in the play, of which I have to say there are several.
All four actors portray their character traits to perfection.  Will Adamsdale playing Kenny as a coiled spring always has us wondering and worrying what he will do next.  He is perfectly matched with Clare Dunne’s Sharon who, with her wild intensity, is also an accident waiting to happen.  Justine Mitchell as the outwardly perfect hostess and wife, wonderfully highlights the barely hidden suppressed rage, whilst Stuart McQuarrie as Ben, although a genial soul is bit by bit losing his grip on reality.

What I mostly enjoyed about Detroit was the not knowing where the play was going and worrying about what was going to happen to the four protagonists in the process.  A wonderful moment towards the end seems to confirm this;  a brilliant piece of directing and staging by Austin Pendleton and Kevin Depinet respectively.  However this positive reaction is sadly lost thanks to the clumsy ending.  A fifth character played by Christian Rodska is brought on to explain everything.  The only problem is everything is not explained and his appearance is strangely out of sync with what’s gone on before.

For me Detroit is entertaining, I’m glad I’ve seen it but it’s not particularly a must see.