March 6, 2017 marks the centenary of the birth of a comedy legend: Frankie Howerd, who was and still is “one of Britain’s best-loved comedians”.
A radical, whose courage and innovation as a performer have too often been obscured by cosy nostalgia, he was the first stand-up to dispense with conventional punchlines and slick patter, instead crafting stumbling, surreal streams of insecurity, based on his sense of inadequacy, disappointment and sheer unsuitability to the very job of being a comedian. In his refusal to ‘do’ comedy like everyone else had done, he paved the way for other non-conformists like The Goons, Monty Python and Eddie Izzard.
Set in the living room of Wavering Down, the Somerset home of Howerd and Dennis Heymer, Howerd’s End, is a punchy, passionate, revealing two-handed drama. It explores through a series of flashbacks the development of Howerd’s style of comedy – from his first appearance on the BBC radio programme Variety Bandbox in 1947 to his final performances in the 1990s when he had a reinvention as a cult godfather of stand up.
The play also shines an unflinching spotlight on the clandestine union which made Frankie’s big dipper of a career possible: his extraordinary 35-year relationship with his lover, Heymer, a wine waiter Frankie met in 1958 at the Dorchester Hotel while dining with Sir John Mills. Howerd was 40 and Heymer was 28. He would go on to become Howerd’s manager and anchor, but his existence was strictly guarded from the public, not least because for many years the relationship was illegal and the couple feared blackmail if anyone beyond their immediate circle found out.
Howerd’s End also shows the other cost of fame – Howerd’s neurosis, his unfaithfulness and use of LSD that pushed his career and relationship to the brink of destruction. It also highlights Heymer’s struggle: seemingly content with coming second, yet yearning to hear how much he was appreciated, and wondering if the love into which he had deeply fallen was, in truth, unrequited.
More than simply a tribute show about a comedian who outlasted them all, Howerd’s End is also a piercingly honest love story about a relationship that tried to defy every odd – including death. Above all, the play confronts every human’s toughest challenge: letting go.
Scram Collective presents their debut production which asks what an ordinary person would do if given the power to do anything – could they lead a normal life or would they simply be overwhelmed by their abilities? Whimsy is a surreal piece that combines quick dialogue with intense physicality to explore themes of corruption, domestic abuse and generational complacency.
“Sick of your life? I’ll give you a life!” Aoife can do anything she wants. She doesn’t clock in for work, or pay for her meals, and instead the world simply does what she asks of it. With infinite power and infinite potential, an innocent person standing in Aoife’s way doesn’t stand a chance.
Scram Collective aim to create new work based on human experience as well as reinventing old favourites with a touch of the surreal, keeping them dark, comic and a little bit unusual. Company co-founder and writer of Whimsy Alex Newport says:
“Scram Collective was formed with an attitude of ‘doing it ourselves’ rather than waiting for the phone to ring. While this presents a massive challenge, it also gives a wonderful sense of creative freedom, and we’re so pleased that we can create work for ourselves and other emerging artists. Writing Whimsy has been a terrific experience, mainly due to having such a positive and hard-working team. A team who will be brutally honest on whether a scene works or not, helping to create a piece that is personal, but well-rounded.”
