Review- Les Puddings Noir
Venue: Library Theatre
Date Reviewed: 15th August, 2008
Dover docks show on the screen at the rear of the stage. Two girls with blackened faces have been shot and are lying on an empty stage. Police sirens swell, and the audience laughs. Darkness descends, “Chanson D’Amour” blares out of the speakers, and the audience cheer. This is like nothing you have seen before. This is Les Puddings Noir!
In this new play from the MaD Theatre Company, written and directed by Rob Lees, the action follows the comings and goings in Cath’s Café. The evil Lady Mayoress of Bury declares that all-day breakfasts are banned and greasy-spoon cafés must be closed, a move which seems to signal the end for the Black Pudding as we know it.
Rosie Phillips, who plays Cath, leads the large ensemble cast very well. The supporting parts are entertaining despite the actors not always being audible. There are different levels of experience and ability in the cast, but there is no lack of enthusiasm and the quality of the script make this production great fun. The stand-out performers of the night are the two young girls, Alana Thornton and Lauren Lennon, who play the teenage mums, Chloe and Zoë. They use some of the best lines in the play to steal all of their scenes.
Good use is made of the small stage with the back-projection screen standing in for scenery, and music and dancing being used to cover the movement of props. Extra parts of the story are told via short film clips which lend a greater size and scope to the production.
Described as a satire on the homogenisation of British cities, the play also deals with a host of other issues using a broad humour somewhere between a pantomime and a seaside postcard. Attempting to do so much in one play is slightly problem atic as the story occasionally stumbles, not sure which issue it wants to address at any one time, but the enthusiastic engagement of cast and therefore audience prevents this from detracting too much.
The sheer enjoyment on the faces of the actors as they take their bows is palpable and on the night I attended, the whooping from the audience was almost deafening. This is a daft, witty, entertaining play, performed with unrelenting energy and bags of enthusiasm.
Les Puddings Noir may not be the best play in the world, but I defy anyone to have more fun anywhere else.
Go and see it while you can!
-Calum Kerr