Union Theatre Archives - Page 6 of 14

Daphne, Tommy, the Colonel and Phil

Union Theatre

Reviewed – 23rd July 2019

★

“The pacing is drudgingly slow, and the cast seem unsure about what’s supposed to be happening next”

I’m loathed to give anything one star, but unfortunately, this new comedy, written and directed by Edwin Ashcroft, is a bit of a mess. On the plus side, it straddles the “It’s So Bad It’s Good” boundary enough to make the evening itself fairly enjoyable – but for all the wrong reasons.

Tommy (David Henry) has been married to Daphne (Clifford Hume) for nearing 66 years. To his mild surprise, Daphne turns out to be none other than the titular Colonel, who narrowly escaped being assassinated in 1950s Korea. As Daphne reveals her secret and leaves, Tommy’s life becomes in danger. Enter Tesco delivery boy cum Korean assassin Phil (Edwin Ashcroft) who’s come to take care of the fallout.

Where to start? The script is littered with horrid jokes that leave a bad taste in the mouth and a confused look on the face. It’s like the worst kind of “Carry On…” film. Talking about trying to dismiss some out of work American Navy Seals, Tommy announces “it’s difficult to get rid of discharged seamen”. Phil’s attempts to bond with Tommy mean we hear lines along the lines of: “My wife died thirty seconds after I came out to her as gay”. Korea seems to be brought up just so Ashcroft can throw in some jokes about eating dogs. If that’s your bag, go for it. For me, I was left baffled.

It doesn’t help that the characters seem to be vessels for information (and “jokes”) rather than anything else. The pacing is drudgingly slow, and the cast seem unsure about what’s supposed to be happening next. This (at least) is a problem that will resolve itself as the run continues. It felt like Hume and Ashcroft were spending more time prompting Henry than saying their own lines. There are some yawningly long transitions that could be sped up. Pace is vital in comedy, and this had some excruciating awkward silences.

Henry Clarke’s lighting design is nicely effective but could be used to add more punch to scene-endings. Hume redeems proceedings with energy and liveliness, but even he is not enough to save this dire production. Convoluted, confusing, under-rehearsed, unfunny, and, at times, actually a bit offensive, this play needs a lot of re-drafting if it’s going to win over London audiences.

Reviewed by Joseph Prestwich

Photography by Digby St. John

We had some feedback about this review from the show’s writer and director Edwin Ashcroft:

Many thanks for making it along on Press Night to Daphne, Tommy, the Colonel and Phil at the Union Theatre, and for your review. We really appreciate it! Quite rightly, your review was quite devastating, and we fully expected that – as you may have detected, we were encountering some profound issues with various aspects of the production on the first night that were fatally undermining the strength of the show. Since then, we have cancelled a couple of shows and recast one of the parts. We are now receiving excellent feedback on the show. I don’t think what you saw, and the – very well-written – review that you produced, are accurate reflections of the show in its current state. Your piece is really a reflection of a collection of freak circumstances.

Daphne, Tommy, the Colonel and Phil

Union Theatre until 3rd August

Previously reviewed at this venue:

It’s Only Life | ★★★★ | June 2018

Around the World in Eighty Days | ★★★ | August 2018

Midnight | ★★★★★ | September 2018

Striking 12 | ★★★★ | December 2018

An Enemy of the People | ★★ | January 2019

Can-Can! | ★★★★ | February 2019

Elegies For Angels, Punks And Raging Queens | ★★★ | May 2019

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

★★★

“Told in music and verse by the victims and culprits; the heroes and the cowards; the innocent and the culpable, the stories are heartfelt”

Originally titled “Quilt”, this is less a song cycle but more of a poetry reading inspired by the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, conceived in 1985 in San Francisco to commemorate the lives lost in the AIDS pandemic. With book and lyrics by Bill Russell and music by Janet Hood it attempts to show some of the sadness and horror that unfurled during the 1980s, but moreover the sense of community, hope and human spirit that always emerges from adversity. Which is what this outing at the Union Theatre brings to the fore. The impressive, sixteen-strong cast inject just the right amount of humour in order to quell the anger, and the result is a celebration rather than a rant.

Director Bryan Hodgson has set the production at the Memorial Quilt (which has since moved from San Francisco to Washington) and has the cast add their own panel to the tapestry on Justin Williams’ simple but effective square-box set as they each tell their story, so at the end of the show we have the full picture. It is a neat, personal touch that, while obviously not matching the scale, reflects the ongoing ideology. The Quilt itself is the largest piece of community art in the world, with each of the panels the size and dimension of a grave. Still growing, it receives at least one extra quilt panel per day.

Like the Quilt, this is a piece that lends itself to continued revision and, as was pointed out in the final rather ‘happy-clappy’ closing moments of the show, the aftermath is still with us. Until that moment, the richness of the evening was intact, held together by the rich thread of the vignettes. Told in music and verse by the victims and culprits; the heroes and the cowards; the innocent and the culpable, the stories are heartfelt. To slip into a kind of evangelism slightly spoils the effect. It is always a challenge to get the balance right with this sort of theatre, where the message is as important as the means.

The cast members are all skilled hands at this balancing act; measuring out the moments of comedy with the right blend of darkness, and knowing when to ask us to take things seriously or whether just to delight us with a skilled offhand observation. Sometimes the sincerity of the performances were at odds with the slick, stylised lighting (Alex Musgrave) and sound design (Henry Brennan), but the commitment of the actors outshone these quibbles, and their belief in the material manages to rescue the show when it steers too close to sentimentality.

After all, they are here to celebrate, not mourn. And Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens at the Union does just that.

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mark Senior PR

Union Theatre

Reviewed – 23rd July 2019

★

“The pacing is drudgingly slow, and the cast seem unsure about what’s supposed to be happening next”

I’m loathed to give anything one star, but unfortunately, this new comedy, written and directed by Edwin Ashcroft, is a bit of a mess. On the plus side, it straddles the “It’s So Bad It’s Good” boundary enough to make the evening itself fairly enjoyable – but for all the wrong reasons.

Reviewed by Joseph Prestwich

Photography by Digby St. John

We had some feedback about this review from the show’s writer and director Edwin Ashcroft:

Daphne, Tommy, the Colonel and Phil

Union Theatre until 3rd August

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Union Theatre

Reviewed – 18th May 2019

★★★

“Told in music and verse by the victims and culprits; the heroes and the cowards; the innocent and the culpable, the stories are heartfelt”

After all, they are here to celebrate, not mourn. And Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens at the Union does just that.

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mark Senior PR

Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens

Union Theatre until 8th June

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: