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Warm and witty theatre
Picture: Tristram Kempton One Monkey
Don't Stop No Show Belgrade
Theatre, Coventry *****
IMAGINE you're in 1970s Philadephia and living in style with the
middle-class, black Harrison family: mum Myra (Jocelyn Lee Esien) prone
to Malapropism and pretension, dad Avery (Karl Collins) preacher-teacher
with a healthy interest in sex, Junior aka Felix (Isaac Ssebandeke)
protected preppy son with girlfriend L'il Bits (Rochelle Rose)
unintentionally ‘in the club'. There's enough there to be
going on with – so add young Beverley (Rebecca Scroggs) pretty, freshly
orphaned and up from the rural South, left in the unwilling and probably
unsuitable care of nightclub owner Caleb Johnson (Clifford Samuel). Three sets of couples in
transition make up the story in this Eclipse Theatre Production; Myra
and Avery rediscovering sex, Felix and L'il Bits sorting their ‘issues',
and Beverley and Caleb. Caleb fancies himself a Svengali but he's a
picked a tough cookie in Beverley. My mind wandered to George
Bernard Shaw who was inclined to put wisdom into the mouth of the ‘fool'
as well as his oft-used theme juxtaposing wealth created by immoral
means but used to do good. Beverley is no fool, she knows
her own mind, wise as Solomon and old as the hills, and lots to teach
Caleb. Their scenes together are a battleground and their developing
relationship is left hanging in a beautiful piece of theatre when he
announces to anyone, notably us, that the lights shouldn't go up just
there – he's not finished! He's prepared to tell us as audience his
feelings for Beverley – but not her. I enjoyed this immensely; the
split set supported the range of pace between the frenetic, fast and
funny scenes with the It's maybe not for the maiden
aunt, but this piece, first performed in 1982,
is beautifully written by Don Evans, works really well and is a thrill
to watch. For me, the performance that
lights up the B2 stage is Beverley. Her transformation from country hick
to girl-about-town, teasing Caleb with her relationship with Roger,
white and wealthy, underlines the thrust of the piece. ‘Bourgeois' is used as a term
of abuse. Felix turns his back on his family's wealth but the girls,
L'il Bits and Beverley know its value firsthand and choose an easier
life. Directed by Dawn Walton, this is a witty, wise and warm piece of
theatre at its best. Jane Howard
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