Reasons to be Cheerful

Synopsis

It's 1979. Ian Dury and the Blockheads' new single Reasons to be Cheerful (part 3) is climbing the charts. Labour has just lost the recent election to the Tories. Vinnie and his mates are big Ian Dury fans and they are desperate to see him at the Hammersmith Odeon but the gig is sold out. Vinnie will do anything to get tickets, but life is complicated. His dad is dying; the girl he loves is going out with his boss at the supermarket, and his own band never stops fighting. But the opportunity to get tickets for the gig arises and events take a surprising turn. Set during a time of political change and economic hardship, Dury's songs provide a powerful political and emotional backdrop to this coming-of-age tale.

Our Review:

Anne Morley-Priestman - 15 October 2010

There’s a real story hidden under all the sound (lots of it) and fury (lots of that, too) which makes up most of Paul Sirett’s Reasons to be Cheerful. It’s a production with input from Ipswich’s New Wolsey Theatre and the Stratford East Theatre Royal mounted by Graeae Theatre Company. Graeae, if you don’t already know its work, specialises in productions accessible to sight- or hearing-impaired audiences and integrates, most successfully, physically-disabled actors with non-disadvantaged ones.

Wrapped around the afore-mentioned story is the music of Ian Drury, sung and played by a six-piece band which overlaps with the five principal actors. We’re in 1979 and the Tories have just won the election. Pat (Karen Spicer) is at the end of her tether, with Bobby her husband (Garry Robson) dying of cancer and Vinnie their son (Stephen Lloyd) dropped out of the sixth form to work in a supermarket. Pat had her dreams, once, and so did h...

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Latest User Review

C Rider - 18 February 2012:

This play is ghastly. It is both offensive to the music of Ian Dury - which is performed in the style of a Chaz 'n Dave singalong, and offensive to common decency, unless, of course, you enjoy exposing your children to 'blow-job' jokes. Avoid this rubbish at all costs. I wish I had....

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