By Michael Coveney
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Queues On the Avenue

The New Year has kicked off with all the appearance of being a box office bonanza in the West End. It is virtually impossible to buy tickets for One Man, Two Guvnors at the Adelphi. And queues for returns are blocking the pavement along Shaftesbury Avenue outside the Apollo for the last few days of Jerusalem.

In fact, walking up the Avenue from Piccadilly Circus last night en route to The Ladykillers at the Gielgud, I thought at first that the crowds consisted of Michael Jackson fans worshipping at the shrine that the Lyric has become these days.

And then, from the other direction, a huge mob suddenly pressed forward into the Gielgud itself for the spring-heeled new stage version of the great Ealing comedy.

I realise it's still the holiday season, but maybe we're entering a new era of post-Modernist, slightly self-conscious popular comedy in the West End, building on the audience that shows like The 39 Steps and, to a lesser extent, Potted Panto are bringing to town.

Nicholas Hytner is on record as having noted, with regard to his hit production of One Man, Two Guvnors, that there was suprisingly little on offer in the West End by way of farce or even comedy. We're okay for musicals and juke box compilation shows, and the odd "straight theatre" success such as Jerusalem and Three Days in May disguise the fact that new plays are thin on the ground in the commercial sector.

But we love to laugh, especially in hard times, perhaps, and this is why The Ladykillers, and the Noises Off revival at the Old Vic, have been so joyfully received by audiences, some of whom, presumably, have been unable to get into One Man, Two Guvnors.

The Ladykillers has been rightly acclaimed as both a skilful hommage to the movie and a theatrical venture of some wit and comic substance in its own right. Michael Taylor's set, for a start, is amazing, a great pile of railway architecture, Kings Cross rooftops and genteel suburban interiors leaning dangerously out of kilter.

The performances are oddly angular to match, not least that of Peter Capaldi in the Alec Guinness role of the sinister gang leader whose eccentricity is a form of madness and whose music-making with his accomplices a suprisingly brilliant form of improvisation.

It's a glorious highlight in Sean Foley's production when the concert-going lady friends of Marcia Warren's fastidious Mrs Wilberforce crowd into the sitting room for a sip of tea and a taste of Boccherini to find Clive Rowe and co scraping out an abrasive avant garde piece that still convinces them they are hearing something worthwhile.

This trick is ingeniously played either side of the interval, when the buzz in the stalls and the bars was nothing but delighted. I also got a strong impression that the audience included quite a few film buffs, or devotees of Ealing comedies, who were measuring the play against their own favourite moments on celluloid.

But as there's no sensible comparison to be made between Stephen Wight's delightfully gormless Harry and the Peter Sellers template, or between James Fleet's deftly distracted Major Courtney and Cecil Parker's olde worlde original, these comparisons can only be made for fun, not critical kudos, and the audience responded exactly in that way.

This was my first trip to the theatre since The Comedy of Errors at the National, and a very revivifying and heartening experience it was, too. December, alas, was a panto-free zone for me this year, but I look forward to catching up with Noises Off very soon.

- by Michael Coveney

Any opinions expressed above do not represent the view of Whatsonstage.com nor any of its staff or contributors beyond the bylined author.

Related Content

Booking Tickets & Show Listings
	One Man, Two Guvnors Listing Page
	Jerusalem Listing Page
	The Ladykillers Listing Page
	The 39 Steps Listing Page
	One Man, Two Guvnors Listing Page
	Three Days in May Listing Page
	Noises Off Listing Page
	The Comedy of Errors Listing Page

Other Posts By Michael Coveney
	Michael Coveney: New York honours Matilda with five big awards - 20th May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: Tales from New York in Kinky Boots - 17th May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: Finsbury hails its local Park Theatre opening - 15th May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: Hooray for Halifax and Carrie's ENO debut - 13th May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: All change at Trafalgar, Liverpool and Finsbury Park - 10th May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: Critics come full Circle in centenary bash - 8th May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: High old time with High Tide in Halesworth - 7th May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: Hytner steams on, Sondheim scintillates - 2nd May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: Theatre queens and Paris low-life - 30th Apr 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: Olivier big winners and Stratford long runners - 29th Apr 2013 blog
	More...
Internal Links
	The Ladykillers embarks on UK tour from Plymouth, 14 Sep - 19th Mar 2012 news
	Matilda, Guvnors & Ladykillers lead the field at 2012 Oliviers - 15th Mar 2012 news
	Show Pics: New One Man, Two Guvnors photos, royal visit - 7th Mar 2012 photos
	Photos: New cast rehearse One Man, Two Guvnors - 14th Feb 2012 photos
	Ladykillers set to leave West End but could return, says producer - 25th Jan 2012 news
	Prenger & Spearritt join Haymarket cast of One Man, Two Guvnors - 20th Jan 2012 news
	Could Mark Rylance return as Rooster? - 17th Jan 2012 gossip
	Nothing On Noises Off - 12th Jan 2012 blog
	Photos: Theatregoer Makes West End Debut Thanks to Stage One - 6th Jan 2012 news
	Plays Extend: Noises Off, Lion in Winter Adds Matinee - 5th Jan 2012 news
	One Man, Two Guvnors Transfers to Haymarket, Arthur Replaces Corden - 15th Dec 2011 news
	Review Round-up: Glowing Response for Linehan's Ladykillers - 8th Dec 2011 roundup
	1st Night Photos: Brydon Braves West End Ladykillers - 8th Dec 2011 photos
	The Ladykillers - 8th Dec 2011 reviews
	WOS Radio: Theatregoers Get Up Close to Ladykillers - 1st Dec 2011 radio
	Review Round-up: Five Stars for National's Man - 28th Nov 2011 roundup
	Hysterical Laughter by the Book - 23rd Nov 2011 blog
	1st Night Photos: Corden Leads Guvnors Back to London - 22nd Nov 2011 photos
	One Man, Two Guvnors - 22nd Nov 2011 reviews
	Jemima Rooper On ... Being a West End Guvnor - 14th Nov 2011 interviews
	Show Pics: Ladykillers Make Liverpool Debut Ahead of West End - 9th Nov 2011 photos
	Photos: 57th Evening Standard Awards Shortlist - 7th Nov 2011 photos
	One Man, Two Guvnors (Edinburgh) - 30th Oct 2011 reviews
	Jerusalem - 18th Oct 2011 reviews
	Yes, Prime Minister Moves Back to Gielgud, 20 Sep - 5th Aug 2011 news
	Jerusalem Returns to West End with Rylance, 17 Oct - 10th Jul 2011 news
	Producers Hopeful for Tenor Transfer Come Dec - 6th Jun 2011 news
	Ladykillers Jump the Gun - 6th Jun 2011 blog
	Linehan's Ladykillers Come to West End, 7 Dec - 6th Jun 2011 news

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