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Grimm Up North
Old Joint Stock, Birmingham
**** THE Second City
on a Friday summer night is a vibrant thing. Brummies know how to have a
good night out, and Colmore Row was buzzing with weekend revellers,
England cricket fans celebrating a three day Ashes win, and England
cricket fans with tickets for the fourth day drowning their sorrows. Inside the grand and
imposing Old Joint Stock, the downstairs was packed with drinkers, the
upstairs theatre packed to capacity for the debut performance of
Grimm Up North
by the Rachel Green Drama Queen Company, part of Birmingham Fest. The pre- show theatre bar discussion was of
exactly what it was we were about to see. No-one was quite sure, adding
to the frisson of expectancy for curtain up (if there had been one). As
show time approached a flat-capped Yorkshireman moved amongst the masses
handing out bingo cards and raffle tickets. This was to be no ordinary
show. To get everybody in the right (northern) frame of
mind, Brenda Bush aka Bushy Brenda delivered a prologue, making use of
the bingo and raffle tickets only tangentially,, to hand out prizes and
abuse in equal measure. Northern Working Men’s clubs have a gritty,
no-nonsense reputat With Brenda’s credentials established, we were
then treated to Brenda’s backstory- her abuse and order of her hapless
menfolk, for which she also multi-roles as Patsy Tipper. Her doomed love
interests, Big Al and Tommy Tipper are played by Richard Nunn. Amidst
the murderous mayhem Kirsty Mitchell innocently narrates from a high
backed chair as favoured by storytellers in the children’s programme
Jackanory. Part stand-up , part revue knockabout, and part
macabre Grimm northern fairy tale, the show had the audience involved,
and laughing, from start to finish. Rachel Green’s indefatigable energy
and enthusiasm carried the show, ably supported by a talented cast. Her Doncaster roots were grimily evident as the
grotesque Brenda careered around stage intoxicated by tinnies and an
audience, always encouraged to participate, more than happy to feed her
worst excesses. Although the tale itself is scripted, the rest is
largely ad-libbed around a framework driven by Brenda. Rarely have I seen an audience leaving a show with broader smiles, or a cast more exhausted by their exertions. I do hope that it will now tour more widely, the format not only has considerable space to develop as is, but it also has potential to take Brenda to new places and challenges. Gary Longden
08-15
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ion,
but in Brenda they would have found their match. Rachel as Brenda
unleashed a formidable matriarchal persona, with a tongue so acid, and
wit so quick, that it made Liverpool’s Lily Savage look like Florence
Nightingale.