I had originally planned to go and see this just on the strength of Nick Haverson being in the cast. Unfortunately my situation changed and it didn't seem like I was going to be able to see it. I had seen a few trailers for it and heard that it didn't have a script, and played like a silent movie. I wasn't too sure about this concept and so the fact I wasn't seeing it didn't seem so bad. However after seeing a few other snippets of the play from 'Told by an Idiot' and seeing some stunning reviews, I now really wanted to see it. Finding I could fit it in after a matinee at Coventry, I began to get excited at the thought of seeing it. Ticket for Row B cost just £15.
So the play tells an account of the meeting between Stan Laurel and Charlie Chaplin, and the tour they took together under Fred Karno. We also get a glimpse of Charlie's early life and the meeting between Stan and Oliver Hardy. As I said earlier, there is no script. Apart from a few music hall style songs there is no talking at all. We do get silent movie style captions throughout the performance though to tell us where we are in the story. The play works through visual and physical comedy. It's almost like a 1920's film has come alive from the screen and is being played out in front of you.
Leading the cast as Charlie Chaplin is Amalia Vitale. She is perfect as Charlie. All the mannerisms are there, and I was amazed how she was able to make some of her actions seem like a speeded up reel of film. Jerone Marsh-Reid plays Stan Laurel and again is hilarious. He creates just the right amount of empathy needed to play Stan and his physical comedy work is excellent. Nck Haverson, whom I already knew would be funny based on his roles as Dogberry and Costard in Shakespeare's Loves Labour's Lost and Won at the RSC, plays Fred Karno as well as Oliver Hardy. As well as this he plays the drums and works the set and audience brilliantly. He has such good comic timing, and really makes this production. His transformation into Oliver Hardy is so good, it's worth the ticket price just for that one scene. Sara Alexander completes the cast as Charlie's mother but also as the piano player, without whom the show wouldn't be a success, as without words the music really becomes the production's emotional heart.
The set is based on the ship and is complete with stairs, fake floors, a trampoline, bunk beds and drum set. The set is like another character in the play, and is utilised very well, every part of used for some gag or another.
I really enjoyed this play. It's approximately 100 minutes long without an interval, and the time flew by. There are a couple of scenes of audience interaction, so please brush up on your piano playing before attending. It's very funny, particularly so if you're already a fan of Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, or any of the silent era comedies. However I feel perhaps a young audience would enjoy it as well, it really does offer a lot.
There's still 3 venues to go before it finishes, so please check out their website and see if it comes to a theatre near you :
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