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:

28 October 2010

With vigorous renditions of the songs of Ian Dury, an adept cast and Gaelle Mellis' busy, bright set design, there are many reasons to be cheerful about this new musical if you're a Blockheads fan - but fewer if you're not. A collaboration between Theatre Royal Stratford East, Graeae (a disabled-led theatre company) and the New Wolsey Theatre (Ipswich), Reasons to be Cheerful is an energetic and enthusiastic amalgam of Ian Dury's music with the story of two of his fans. A simple and sentimental tale with moments of humour, Vinnie and Colin are played committedly by Stephens Lloyd and Collins.

The atmosphere is lively: the theatre feels more like a pub, and the drama more like a gig. Through various trials and tribulations, Vinnie and Colin manage to get their hands on tickets to see Ian Dury at the Hammersmith Odeon. However, their trip is cut short when Vinnie's drives into the back of someone in his Mum's Morris. Though not an entirely predictable line of a...

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Latest User Review

Paul Monkhouse - 4 November 2010:

One of the best nights I've had out at the theatre for 40 years...period! Utterly fantastic and deserves a much longer run...here's hoping!...

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