Comedians

Synopsis

A play set in Manchester about an evening class of would be comedians during the mid-70's. A time when Bernard Manning and co were the kings of comedy and Harold Wilson struggled to lead a country rocked by IRA bombs and wracked by industrial strife. A time when Bowie, Abba and Bay City Rollers were topping the charts and fashion was not retro-chic, just embarrassing. 'Comedians' is one of the landmark plays of the 70's, a combination of tense drama, high entertainment and socio-political debate. Not suitable for children

Our Review:

20 April 2010

Eddie Waters (Richard Moore), northern comedian, believes that humour should do more than just entertain and encourages his night school class to base their material upon their own experiences. When faced with an unsympathetic judge the students have to decide whether to remain true to Eddie’s philosophy or resort to cruder humour. Meanwhile, Gethin Price (Kieran Hill), Eddie’s protégé and most talented student, has his own ideas on the purpose of comedy.

With hindsight we can appreciate how Trevor Griffiths’ 1975 play anticipates the movement towards comedy routines, in which the humour is based upon observations of life rather than just a series of punch lines and put downs of people different from ourselves. Modern audiences may not appreciate the way in which Gethin Price’s anarchic outlook reflects the scorched earth ethic of the Punk Rock movement but the willingness of performers to compromise their ideals for fame is more rel...

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