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Sizing up the competition April in Paris
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
**** SOME marriages are made in heaven and
some in hell and there are many kinds of hell. That of Bet (Shobna Gulati) and Al (Joe McGann)
is a kind of limbo in this ‘refreshed’ John Godber comedy from 1992. Their marriage is built on puerile bickering,
seriously stuck in a rut of boredom and banality. Al is an unemployed
builder with an interest in art but becalmed by the banking crisis of
2008. His art sums up his life; monochrome, sketchy and
half-finished. Bet works in a shoe shop with a hatful of dashed dreams
and a penchant for magazine competitions. She wins a weekend in There is a rider. His bluff Godber also direts this production and the first
scene built the drama beautifully – a narrow house, decking, bickering,
hemmed in on all sides by more banality, boredom and barking dogs. For the second scene the house has cleverly
become ‘The Pride of Hull’ passenger ferry to Zeebrugge, and even before
they leave port the shackles are coming off. He is happy to have three
dinners, a bellyful of beer while she drinks and dances round her
handbag. Inevitably, the journey is fraught with the kind
of horrors we associate with the ferry; tumultuous seas, too much to
drink, not enough ‘sea legs’ and mal-de-mer. As they reach Paris, Al is really taken with
Pigalle, Montmatre, the Louvre, but can’t stand the food, can’t
understand the language and is terrified of the Metro. Bet is braver,
and the wonderful nuanced performance describes a more sophisticated
women developing. Just look at those shoes! Al, though, wants to stay! The final scene shows Al’s art developing to take
in the sights of I enjoyed the scene shifters, extremely clever
French mime artists who won applause of their own. Music choice was also
inspired; from Rod Stewart to Edif Piaf. The set was also clever in that
the main Paris attraction were like children’s drawings, and Bet and Al
approach Paris like a couple of children lost in a grown-up city. To
11-10-14 Jane Howard
07-10-14
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