Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Michael Fletcher, Lindzi Germain, Hayley Hampson, Danny O’ Brien, Andrew Schofield, Michael Starke, Leah Whiteside, Amera Bjorkhaug, Ashlyn Baker, Natasha Riley.
Band: Elliot Chapman, Jack Hymers, Emily Linden, Alex Smith.
Boris and Daisy, a Russian submarine crew member and a student from Liverpool, having found love in a cold climate and an odd pair of talking bears with a passion for ballet in Scouse of The Antarctic continue their romance in the hot desert of Egypt and in amongst the camels, the fezs and flies and in Fred Lawless’ latest comedy smash, Pharaoh Cross The Mersey, the spirit of the Liver Bird lives on in wonderful Merseyside fashion.
Pharaoh Cross The Mersey brings back many of the team who made last year’s trip to the Polar ice caps such a tremendous and outrageous experience for Liverpool audiences. With the ever cool Michael Starke swapping the sanctity of life amongst the penguins, rude snowmen and sequined bears for life as King Tut, Lindzi Germain as his consort Queen Nefertiti, the excellent and young star quality of Hayley Hampson and Michael Fletcher being joined by the tremendous Andrew Schofield and the delight that is Danny O’ Brien, this year’s Royal Court Christmas offering is a delight
The complexity of any actor’s ability to bring out the best in another may be lost on the general public as the gliding from one crucial joke to the next set up is rolled with perfection, but to do it so well, to not miss a heartbeat whilst waiting for the most opportune moment to drop in a suddenly thought of ad-lib or one liner, is the masterstroke of an excellent comedy performance.
In this particular cast, the rolling of fortune is always on their side when it comes to that masterstroke. In being comfortable with each other, in the time honoured relationships that is forged in the city and in the realms of the actors who make Liverpool their home, comedy is king and Pharaoh Cross The Mersey exemplifies all that is good about the theatre.
Once again the Royal Court Theatre proves that you don’t have Pharaoh to go to see a wonderfully written comedy in Liverpool, the best an audience could ask for by a country Nile.
Ian D. Hall