Nobody’s Perfect (tour)

Leonard knows full well “nobody’s perfect”. Why else would his wife have left him custodian of their feisty teenage daughter Dee Dee and why else would he be faced with the nightmare of getting his determinedly resistant and aged father Gus into
a retirement home? Nobody and nothing, in Leonard’s life, is perfect.

On the face of it, Leonard is a home-based statistician who, given the
opportunity, would bore the pants off the Mother Superior at a hundred
yards. But within his festering ego, he’s a frustrated writer of fiction –
blocked by the likes of Harriet Copeland, a
commissioning editor with strong opinions about everything, most especially
the shortcomings of men as writers and consorts. To accommodate these publishing foibles, Leonard changes his nom de plume to Myrtle Banbury without realising that he’ll need to dress as a woman for the face-to-face financial negotiations with Harriet. And so the farcical foundations are laid.

Nobody’s Perfect is a little ditty of a comic creation, penned by its leading man, Simon Williams. Knowing the script so intimately seems to do Williams no harm at all. He plays the part of the frustrated Leonard with great humour and generosity, especially to Dee Dee, who is portrayed here by his real-life daughter, Amy.

Williams minor has carte blanche to rid herself of any and all inhibitions. As the teenaged Dee Dee, she indulges in nicotine, booze and who knows what else – and does so with exuberance, not to mention the winking encouragement of her libidinous grandfather Gus. As granddad, Moray Watson has a gem of a role that puts him in serious danger of stealing the show. Naughty old Gus has his fingers in every pie, whether he’s chatting up randy widows or coming fourth in a four-man karaoke competition. Watson’s obvious relish for the many brilliant one-liners Williams’ allows him is amusement in itself.

And then, of course, there’s Stephanie Beacham, well-known to television audiences from her starring days in Dynasty and The Colbys. Beacham, a formidable Harriet, brings a welcome dash of glamour to this production.

The tightness of the plot and the text assists the director Andy de la Tour no end in maintaining a cracking pace throughout the evening, whilst ensuring that Julie Godfrey‘s brilliant three-part set is used to full advantage.

While nobody may be perfect, Williams’ comedy gives perfection a run for its money. In short, it’s an absolute delight.

John Timperley (reviewed at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre).