Review – Elizabeth & Raleigh- Late but Live
Venue: Library Theatre
Date Reviewed: 12th September, 2008
From the opening moments of this show the audience is dragged into a surreal mix of Elizabethan and modern day topical humour.
Following on from his successes with Jerry Springer – The Opera and last year’s Edinburgh production of Johnson & Boswell-Late But Live, writer Stewart Lee has turned his attention to the probable love affair between Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Raleigh.
Unfortunately for him, the mere mention of Ben Elton’s depiction of these characters on TV only serves to highlight the huge differences in quality between the two versions.
Whilst Miles Jupp (Sir Walter Raleigh) and Simon Munnery (Queen Elizabeth I) work hard to keep the show entertaining, parts of it simply do not have the necessary wit to get the laughs. The most entertaining part for me was the ad libbed discovery of the pendulum by the Queen, although the Spanish Armada’s battle with the British navy is worthy of mention too.
Raleigh is portrayed as a buffoon and rake. Ever loyal to his Queen he spends the first half of the show expecting her to propose they marry, and the second half severely disappointed that instead she wanted to behead him.
Munnery’s Queen Liz is never more than a man in drag. From his entrance via the auditorium, via a sporadically funny rant about foreigners, to a more serious monologue near the end of the show, the audience is not allowed to forget that this is a man dressed up as the ‘Virgin Queen’.
Mention must be made of Jane Watkins as Prince Tiny Meat, a character they claim can play any musical instrument. Wonderful Watkins provides a variety of music which is very amusing, and lovely to listen to. But Owen Lewis‘s patchy direction does not keep the same control over the show, and the whole piece needs tightening up to become the laughter-riot that it desperately wants to be.
When all is said done, Elizabeth & Raleigh is an entertaining and amusing show, but you are left with the nagging feeling that it could be so much better.
-Helen Jones