Liverpool Sound and Vision 9/10
Cast: Andrew Schofield, Alan Stocks, Paul Duckworth, Gillian Hardie, Keddy Sutton, Lenny Wood.
Before a word is spoken inside the Echo Arena, before Andrew Schofield and Alan Stocks pass that wonderful look between them and the marvellous Keddy Sutton manages to bring her array of much loved admired voices to the table, just to know that these six amazingly funny and versatile actors are about to bring Dave Kirby’s work to life, there is already a broad smile on the audience who braved the December storms to watch Dreaming Of A Barry White Christmas.
The smiles and laughter are understandable, not only do Andrew Schofield, Alan Stocks, Paul Duckworth, Gillian Hardie, Keddy Sutton and Lenny Wood always give performances in which the funny bone surrenders, white flag in hand and being waved furiously in an attempt to meekly say no more, but when teamed up with Dave Kirby, the man behind the superb Council Depot Blues, the sensational Reds and Blues and the now legendary Brick Up The Mersey Tunnels, no matter how many funny bones you may possess, you will rapidly wear them all out by the end of the night.
Dreaming Of A Barry White Christmas sees Thomas Minge, the owner of a toilet roll factory whose life has been etched by misery after his bride to be ran out on him on their wedding day and in the intervening years, his only pleasure has been to throw the occasional bed pans and their contents over carol singers and the love of Barry White’s music which he and his beloved Mary shared.
With a workforce who include a kind hearted if lonely secretary, a young work experience lad whose taste in mobile phone ring tones is only surpassed by his love of the vinyl kind, a man who still lives with his mum and his mate who due to an unfortunate incident in 1984 with a member of the farm yard community has made him a bit woolly over the years, there doesn’t seem to be much hope in Mr. Minge’s life…until the arrival of a tramp starts off a chain of events that sees Christmas change.
Andrew Schofield is a master of comedy, a true treasure that Merseyside holds dear but this is one of those plays in which everybody shines, Lenny Wood and Keddy Sutton almost steal the show between them and Ms. Sutton, especially when placed alongside her partner in crime, the beautifully talented Gillian Hardie, proves herself to be one of the funniest women to ever step on the stage in Liverpool. As for the men in the life of Dave Kirby’s knockout show, if ever there was a moment in which they didn’t make the audience laugh then it would be sometime around New Year and after the memories start to fade because it certainly wasn’t during the show.
Baaaarilliant, the perfect show to finish off a superb year of theatre in Liverpool, something that even the sheepish can enjoy and to all who think absurdly so little of Liverpool and its people, Dave Kirby’s script suggests a big Baaaaahumbug.
Ian D. Hall