Review – Looking For Buddy
Date Reviewed: 6th April, 2009
Venue: Bolton Octagon
The Octagon’s latest offering, a brand new musical, Looking For Buddy, is one of the strangest pieces of theatre I can remember seeing. Structurally, it’s like a classic Raymond Chandler noir-esque detective novel, with a catchy jazz-blues score, and a gallery of shifty characters. Except that it’s set in present-day Newcastle on the day that Northern Rock collapses, and is a tongue-in-cheek feel-good show that touches on the ideas of globalization and national identity. Strange times, indeed.
It’s a blue Monday, and Newcastle architect Phil (Geordie legend Tim Healy) is pondering the futility of his life in the middle of a global recession. When in walks a mysterious blonde, Ella (Jayne MacKenzie,) with talk of the mysterious, mythic titular jazz legend, Buddy. Events take an even more sinister turn with the arrival of multinational CEO Zelda (Jacqueline Boatswain) and the strange after-hours happenings at the Blue Note jazz bar.
None of this is to be taken seriously for a moment, of course. It’s a funny, silly, easy-to-digest romp that’s simply impossible to dislike. Mark Babych’s penultimate Octagon production (in a canny joint venture with Live Theatre Newcastle) is a broad and popular crowd pleaser that’s sure to have legs beyond this incarnation. Against a simple, effective set (by Helen Goddard) and aided by Joe Stathers-Tracey’s multimedia projections, a cast of six work their socks off, creating dozens of characters, picking up instruments, and mucking in along with the band.
Babych’s direction maximizes the silliness of Alan Plater’s gag-heavy script, and resident Octagon MD Howard Gray creates a dazzling variety of arrangements for Alan Barnes’s score. It’s a mixed bag, some songs working better than others, though. A comedy skiffle number (complete with spoons and washboard) and “The White Suburban Blues” are two particular gems that stay with you after you leave the theatre.
The cast work as a true ensemble. A few fluffed lines aside, Healy is a commanding central presence, and has nifty comic timing. MacKenzie is in fine, belting voice, and Jane Holman, Phil Corbitt and Nicholas Lumley play a multitude of brief and incidental characters, that leave a lasting impact. Similarly, Boatswain is a slinky and fiery addition as the devious, sinister Zelda.
There are a few minor niggles. Some of the sound balance isn’t quite right, and some of the lyrics are swamped by the band. The gags are plentiful, and some work better than others, but this is populist fare – not Pinter.
The Geordie references and settings are sure to have even more of an impact when this production transfers to Live Theatre, Newcastle (Healy was one of its co-founders in 1973), where it’s sure to prove a hit. The Octagon should be applauded for taking a risk on a brand new musical – something not often seen in regional theatres – and when it’s this much fun, this stands every chance of becoming the next Blood Brothers.
-Matthew Nichols
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