Review Round-up: Morecambe Hits Right Notes

The show, which won a Fringe First when it premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe back in August, is written by Tim Whitnall and directed by Guy Masterson. The idea for the piece was born in 1997, when Masterson and Golding were appearing together at the Edinburgh Fringe and Masterson noticed Golding’s “extraordinary likeness” to the much-loved entertainer.

Morecambe famously carried a clipping from a bad review in his wallet, but his imitator Golding will struggle to find one himself. Most critics raved about his “uncanny” impersonation and Whitnall’s “cunningly constructed” script, even if some found it heavy on “nostalgia” and lacking in broad appeal. Overall though, with at least two five star raves, Morecambe brought more sunshine than rain.

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Michael Coveney on Whatsonstage.com (two stars) – “I loved Eric Morecambe … but Bob Golding’s solo turn doesn’t strike on my box any more than it did on the Edinburgh fringe last summer … But while the impersonation is okay, Golding doesn’t really have the killer finesse of Eric’s movement, nor his aghast, tragic confusion … Guy Masterson’s production … does at least touchingly display the elision of music hall variety with television light entertainment as the boys progress from Moss Empires and Blackpool summer seasons to their prime time kingdom in a golden age … But jokes about Winifred Atwell, Billy Marsh and Lew Grade are only funny to people of a certain age … His show can only be recommended to the faithful who still feel a warm glow at the very mention of Eric’s name … I hope they don’t come away feeling too short-changed.”

Benedict Nightingale in The Times (five stars) – “You can’t imagine Eric Morecambe leaving lubricious messages on an elderly actor’s answering machine, or sharing dubiously funny details of his depression … He lived at a less abrasive time and showed it … Isn’t a one-man show about a personally happy, if professionally driven, comedian bound to seem bland … in the Britain of 2009? Not to me or to the audience that gave Golding a standing ovation on opening night … You would call Golding’s impersonation uncanny if they were not so cannily observed. He catches the gleeful somersaults of that North Country voice, the big grin under the school-swot glasses … but above all a delighted pride in the sheer sound of the laughter that he had managed to generate … Whitnall’s neatly honed script takes us from their meeting as teenagers … to the last of Morecambe’s heart attacks in 1984 … Golding also gives us plenty of nicely timed jokes … hilarious.”

Henry Hitchings in the Evening Standard (four stars) – “At a time when it’s considered newsworthy that The X Factor draws 15million viewers, it’s worth remembering that back in 1977 the Morecambe and Wise Christmas special pulled in 28 million. The duo were a national institution and Tim Whitnall’s play … is a tribute to the more complicated of the two … The key to the show’s success is Bob Golding’s performance as Morecambe … What could easily be a collection of mannerisms is instead an affectionate portrait. Guy Masterson directs with a nice sense of pace … Given its mix of sentimentality and manic energy, the show will not be to everyone’s taste … But it is very funny and Eric Morecambe’s fans will surely find it irresistible .”

Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph (five stars) – “I have rarely experienced a warmer, funnier or more touching one-man show. There isn’t a moment of malice in it, not a second of boredom. In a tour-de-force performance that never seems flashy or self-advertising, Bob Golding somehow becomes the reincarnation of the most universally loved of British comedians … Much of the show’s pleasure depends on its comforting familiarity – the paper bag trick and the false-leg gag, the catchphrases and the one-liners – but what makes it such a winner is its generous heart. Golding clearly loves his subject and it is a feeling shared by the entire house. This is a show that will bring sunshine into the lives of all who see it.”

Lyn Gardner in The Guardian (three stars) – “You would have to have a heart of stone not to warm to this genial and artless one-man show, a trip down memory lane and into the life and times of one half of the double act, Morecambe and Wise, who for more than 40 years brought a little sunshine into our damp, grey lives … Their popularity is conveyed in Tim Whitnall‘s cunningly constructed script, which seamlessly mixes biography and gags, and Bob Golding‘s winning performance. You feel that he might not be acting but actually channelling Morecambe … There is something almost joyful about the evening that honours Morecambe without embalming him. This is probably a niche show for a niche audience, and at almost two hours, it feels over-stretched … But this is neatly packaged nostalgia providing the kind of family entertainment that Morecambe and Wise purveyed.”

– by Theo Bosanquet & Sabine Schereck