Tag Archives: Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch

WILKO

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Southwark Playhouse Borough

WILKO

Southwark Playhouse Borough

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β€œNone of what follows would be remotely plausible without the sterling performance of Johnson Willis who wholly inhabits the fractious rebel”

Stilted Guitar Dalek, poet, philosopher and musical pioneer Wilko Johnson enjoys yet another resurgence in writer Jonathan Maitland’s affectionate stage biography.

The Dr Feelgood founder was famously diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2012 but remarkably lived another decade or so. At his farewell concert in Camden in 2013 he was so spritely for a dead man walking that a doctor friend suggested he might be a candidate for a life-saving op. And so it came about.

However, we meet the musician just after his initial diagnosis and find him in good spirits.
β€œI can live with it,” he says of his cancer. β€œI can be alive with it.”

The death sentence takes him back to the beginning, to his Canvey Island youth, abusive father, teenage love and musical escape.

None of what follows would be remotely plausible without the sterling performance of Johnson Willis who wholly inhabits the fractious rebel. His nasal intonation, coupled with his studied over pronunciation and stiff physicality bring to mind Kenneth Williams as a Thunderbirds puppet.

Director Dugald Bruce-Lockhart’s production takes us on a journey of Essex, drugs and rock’n’roll as Wilko discovers a way of adapting the blues to fit his version of England – all oil terminals, chip shops and clinches under the pier. Dr Feelgood produce a clipped and insistent interpretation of R&B that brings them chart success and paves the way for punk.

The cast, who previously provided cameos to illustrate Wilko’s fragmented origin story, comes together to form Dr Feelgood and everything makes sense, both for Wilko and the audience.

Georgina Field (bass), David John (drums), and Jon House (vocals and harmonica) are a tight unit. House’s Lee Brilleaux, in particular, brings his A-game to offer up a rug-burning explosion of dad rock.

In Maitland’s unbalanced re-telling, the play rushes past the Dr Feelgood heyday too early, dismissing the intriguing artistic spat between Wilko and Brilleaux in a few unhelpful lines. The reasons why Dr Feelgood went on to greater success without their destructive songwriter are never explored.

Afterwards, with Wilko drifting, the play seems to run out of momentum, and we are left – along with Wilko – mourning the passing of his sparky wife Irene (a lovely performance by Georgina Fairbanks) who stayed with him despite his numerous cruel infidelities.

Little wonder then that the production uses Wilko’s second lease of life and his Scrooge-like transformation to bring about a fantasy Dr Feelgood reunion gig which adds little dramatic coherence but gives the audience what they want when they need it most.

The Guardian once wrote that Wilko Johnson was β€œa 100-1 shot to be our Greatest Living Englishman”. We get glimpses of that cantankerous, selfish, charismatic and much-cherished artist, but this production is frustratingly incurious about the contradictions, aspiring to be kind rather than clinical. Feelgood by name…



WILKO

Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 24th March 2025

by Giles Broadbent

Photography by Mark Sepple

 

 


 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

SON OF A BITCH | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | February 2025
SCISSORHANDZ | β˜…β˜…β˜… | January 2025
CANNED GOODS | β˜…β˜…β˜… | January 2025
THE MASSIVE TRAGEDY OF MADAME BOVARY | β˜…β˜…β˜… | December 2024
THE HAPPIEST MAN ON EARTH | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | November 2024
[TITLE OF SHOW] | β˜…β˜…β˜… | November 2024
THE UNGODLY | β˜…β˜…β˜… | October 2024
FOREVERLAND | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | October 2024
JULIUS CAESAR | β˜…β˜…β˜… | September 2024
DORIAN: THE MUSICAL | β˜…β˜…Β½ | July 2024
THE BLEEDING TREE | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | June 2024
FUN AT THE BEACH ROMP-BOMP-A-LOMP!! | β˜…β˜…β˜… | May 2024

WILKO

WILKO

WILKO

MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE

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Queen’s Theatre

MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE at the Queen’s Theatre

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β€œpertinent and important, and a visually strong reimagining of an iconic and powerful story”

When Hanif Kureishi’s romantic comedy-drama film was released in 1985 it was swiftly hailed as being a mirror to society at the time, casting a sharp eye on London life in the height of the Thatcher years. It almost had too much to say, but the central focus – of the romance between Omar, a young Pakistani living in London, and street punk, neo-fascist Johnny – still managed to shine through. Kureishi’s adaptation for the stage holds onto that perspective while simplifying the surrounding complexities of race, class, and economic and social upheaval that defined the era.

We are definitely in 80s territory, with bursts of the Pet Shop Boys music linking the scenes, and misogyny and racism vying for supremacy against the cold, concrete backdrop of Grace Smart’s inspired set. The burgeoning romance from across the divide is echoed by Ben Cracknell’s lighting, throwing neon splashes of colour and hope against the bleak reality. This is a dog-eat-dog world in which a modern day, same-sex β€˜Romeo and Juliet’ attempt to defy the odds.

Omar (Lucca Chadwick-Patel) is a young British-Pakistani saddled with an alcoholic, disillusioned father (Gordon Warnecke) until brash, β€˜loadsamoney’ Uncle Nasser (Kammy Darweish) sets him to work managing his run-down laundrette. In a scuffle with a group of National Front lads, Omar spots old school chum Johnny (Sam Mitchell) who is adrift and hopelessly uncommitted to his Fascist tendencies. They join forces to add the eponymous adjective to the laundrette. The means are dubious, illegal and overflowing with compromise, yet amidst the subterfuge a passionate romance blossoms.

 

 

Despite Kureishi’s rich command of dialogue and monologue, Nicole Behan’s production removes a lot of the plausibility. And despite a strong cast, the collective performance removes most of the poignancy. An overall hesitancy to the acting dampens the dynamics and often strips the lines of feeling. There are exceptions, however, particularly in the second act, when Chadwick-Patel and Mitchell grab their chance to let their talents flicker as Omar confronts Johnny about his fascist past. A beautiful moment that concentrates the pathos, but we wish it could be more evenly distributed throughout the whole play.

Likewise, the inherent comedy is hovering in the wings, not quite brave enough to step onto the stage and announce itself in all its justified glory. As a result, the contrasting danger that underscores the narrative is weakened and it is sometimes difficult to differentiate the two. Johnny’s National Front sidekicks, while intentionally ridiculous, come across as boyish caricatures.

The play depicts an era, but sadly some of the issues are still with us, albeit in different forms in our age of social media. The production captures the essence of its time while still managing to feel contemporary. And the finale is uplifting, with a feel-good factor that pre-empts the progress society has made over the last four decades. That we still have some way to go is skilfully brought out in this production. However it can be argued that the show, too, has still some way to go to fulfil its promise.

It is pertinent and important, and a visually strong reimagining of an iconic and powerful story. The production values are high, but ultimately the stakes are low.


MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE at the Queen’s Theatre

Reviewed on 29th February 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Ellie Kurttz

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

WILKO | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | February 2024
THE WITCHFINDER’S SISTER | β˜…β˜…β˜… | October 2021

MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE

MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE

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