Chasing Bono

Soho Theatre

Reviewed – 11th December 2018

★★★★

“A highly entertaining tale that already feels like classic comedy”

The legendary writing duo Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais who are behind such TV comedy classics as The Likely Lads, Porridge, and, Auf Wiedersehen Pet, are now trying their hand at the stage. Similar to their biggest hit, The Commitments, Chasing Bono is an Irish play with music looking at the ups and downs of being in a band. Taking inspiration from Neil McCormick’s memoirs, I Was Bono’s Doppelgänger, which back in 2011 was turned into the film Killing Bono, Clement and La Frenais manage to keep its heart and hilarity for this new adaption.

McCormick (here played by Niall McNamee) wants to become a musical legend, known by all. So does his good mate Paul (Shane O’Regan). Both decide to start up bands, making these two pals become (friendly) musical rivals. Paul tries poaching Neil’s guitar-playing brother Ivan (Dónal Finn) for his crew, but Neil persuades his younger sibling they’re better off sticking together. The public love a family affair. It doesn’t take long before Paul’s band takes off after changing his name to Bono, and the band’s name to U2, and the rest, you can say, is history. Whilst U2 are playing Wembley Stadium, Neil and Ivan are stuck playing pubs and ‘titty bars’. The McCormick brothers’ musical luck goes from bad to worse as their confidence in reaching stardom begins to wane.

Clement and La Frenais’ sharp, witty, dialogue is the driving force to the production. Some of their one-liners are pure comedy gold, erupting laughter from the audience on numerous occasions. You can tell you’re in the safe hands of comedy writing pros. It feels clean and polished, but sometimes too much so. There is a sense of lacking a final ingredient, possibly in the plot line, which is stopping this from being a brilliant production. What that special little extra is, I can’t quite put my finger on it.

The realistic country cottage kitchen set plays multiple different locations throughout the story, without ever really changing. The highlight is the high-level wooden beams of the cottage giving way to present the recording studio/radio booth/record company office that looms above the stage and audience with ominous arrogance.

The music that’s incorporated into Chasing Bono, performed by McNamee and Finn both on guitar and vocals, are the original compositions by the real McCormick brothers from their various bands such as Yeah!Yeah! and Shook Up! The songs are all fairly mediocre. It’s understandable why they never quite made it in the music biz. Regardless of song quality, the actors do give credible renditions of them.

McNamee embodies both fearlessness and fragility as the protagonist Neil, with the story moving back and forth from the past to present. Denis Conway and Ciarán Dowd as notorious Dublin gangster Danny Machin and his henchman Plugger are quite the Laurel and Hardy double act. O’Regan’s uncanny resemblance to Bono is a sight to see. The small amount of singing that he does proves vocally he isn’t a complete mimic, but this doesn’t detract from his excellent portrayal.

A highly entertaining tale that already feels like classic comedy – nothing ground-breaking, you know what you’re getting, but by God is it enjoyable.

Reviewed by Phoebe Cole

Photography by Helen Maybanks

Chasing Bono

Soho Theatre until 19th January

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Francesco de Carlo: Comfort Zone | ★★★★ | May 2018

Great British Mysteries | ★★★½ | May 2018

Sarah Kendall: One-Seventeen | ★★★★ | May 2018

Flesh & Bone | ★★★★★ | July 2018

There but for the Grace of God (Go I) | ★★★★ | August 2018

Fabric | ★★★★ | September 2018

The Political History of Smack and Crack | ★★★★ | September 2018

Pickle Jar | ★★★★★ | October 2018

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com

★★★½

“an outrageous, immersive show that keeps the audience laughing and gasping”

Welcome, honoured guests, to the wedding of Laura and… Wait, where is he? Has anybody seen Johnny?

Writer, director, and star of her debut one-woman tragicomedy, Elina Alminas plays Laura, a Russian bride who has spent nine months planning this wedding to her English groom. Every detail is perfect, which is why it’s so galling that she’s been jilted at the altar. Again. Johnny’s abandonment is the final glass that topples the champagne fountain. The ensuing hour sees Laura, completely unhinged, power through the wedding solo: popping pills, swigging champagne, stuffing her face with cake, and accosting the audience (who are the guests).

If you like audience interaction, you’ll enjoy the way Alminas picks on people, interrogating them as to the whereabouts of the groom and expecting actual responses. If you’re not a fan of being put on the spot, consider yourself warned.

Alminas demands your attention like a train wreck. She’s an emotional hurricane, storming on stage in a wedding dress with mascara streaming down her face. Her stamina is impressive as she hyperventilates, gasp-sobbing her way through the show, seamlessly taking us from wretched lows to manic highs and right back down again as she navigates her character’s total breakdown. She revels in raw emotion; anyone who’s ever sat with a drunk, crying friend in the toilets will recognise the truth in her performance.

But the depth of Alminas’ acting is offset by a script that’s content to stay on the surface. Many people aren’t aware that still today Russian women are being raised to believe success means marriage to a wealthy man or a Western one. They’re coached and then sent out with only this goal in mind, being told effort spent on their bodies and makeup is the way to achieve it. It’s a real, tragically modern issue that it feels like Laura has missed a chance to explore. There’s too much one-note hysterical bride, and not enough about what’s pushed her over the edge.

Laura is a fascinating character: she’s caustic, hilarious, and vulnerable. It’s a mistake to keep her at such a distance. It isn’t until the very end she lets us in on what her life’s been like, but even then Alminas only scratches the surface. Laura’s childhood and previous two failed marriage-attempts are rife with potential for humour and insight into the social issues that create “crazy women”; it’s disappointing they’re left largely untapped, while most of the time is spent on throwaway banter.

This is an outrageous, immersive show that keeps the audience laughing and gasping at Laura’s antics. Alminas’ ability to throw in your face a woman broken by society, while never straying far from comedy, shows considerable skill. But the play’s insistence on staying in the shallows prevents it from being more than just a snapshot of a jilted-bride meltdown.

Reviewed by Addison Waite

Photography by Laurie Coldwell

Soho Theatre

Reviewed – 11th December 2018

★★★★

“A highly entertaining tale that already feels like classic comedy”

A highly entertaining tale that already feels like classic comedy – nothing ground-breaking, you know what you’re getting, but by God is it enjoyable.

Reviewed by Phoebe Cole

Photography by Helen Maybanks

Chasing Bono

Soho Theatre until 19th January

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Soho Theatre

Reviewed – 10th December 2018

★★★½

“an outrageous, immersive show that keeps the audience laughing and gasping”

Welcome, honoured guests, to the wedding of Laura and… Wait, where is he? Has anybody seen Johnny?

If you like audience interaction, you’ll enjoy the way Alminas picks on people, interrogating them as to the whereabouts of the groom and expecting actual responses. If you’re not a fan of being put on the spot, consider yourself warned.

Reviewed by Addison Waite

Photography by Laurie Coldwell

Laura

Soho Theatre

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: