The Hokey Cokey Man

Synopsis

The Hokey Cokey Man unfolds the tempestuous life of the colourful London bandleader; his many love affairs, personal losses and final redemption. Composed in 1940, The Hokey Cokey was written by Tabor to lift people’s spirits during the Blitz. The play also looks at Tabor the man who, as the playwright Alan Balfour says, ‘had a public persona which was jovial and highly charming... but also had a darker side.

Our Review:

26 May 2009

If one is in search of a bout of sepia-toned nostalgia and a love story told as they once were, then there is a certain amount to enjoy in The Hokey Cokey Man; but you must find it in a production that proves a strange failure of its own material.

Al Tabor is the man who composed “The Hokey Cokey” in 1940 during the blitz to raise the spirits of a populace cowering under the menace of German bombers. But the play is rarely focused on the popular song and dance craze, rather, Alan Balfour’s misty-eyed tale tells of his own grandfather’s double-life; torn between his wife Jenny (Anna Acton) and mistress Victoria (Issy Van Randwyck) as he emerges as London society’s favourite bandleader.

Structured as an episodic reminiscence by Tabor in late age, we follow the suave, charismatic young man as he marries, moves from America back to Britain and then decides to whisk a dancer he has auditioned, Victoria, to Paris. There...

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Latest User Review

patricia lewis - 31 May 2009:

i have just seen the hokey cokey man and it is a long time since i have heard such heightened dialogue and seen such a beautiully orchestrated production. an absolute treat. lots to feast on!...

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