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Who's Who of Flapland by David Halliwell Directed by Matt Aston Lakeside Arts Centre April 2005 Matt Aston directs a re-working of this rarely performed piece by David Halliwell, whose other work includes Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs. Set
in a self-service café, this bizarre black comedy begins with recollections
of a swindle involving 2000 Confused?
You will be … |
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Stage Delicious is the only word for this bizarre two-hander, originally a radio drama starring Alfred Marks and Wilfred Pickles and now given a big, brazen performance by Ian Reddington as First man and David MacCreedy as Second Man. The plot almost defies description. First Man apparently harbours a lifetime grudge against a salesman who swindled him out of the profits of 2000 boxes of corned beef. He thinks he recognises his quarry in Second Man. As he makes his move, our assumption is that he has a persecution complex but as the confrontation gets under way and the fantasy gets wilder and more elaborate, it becomes a question really of who is living in his head. The changing dynamics of the piece get clever support from Helen Davies' authentic sixties self-service cafe, a split-level set that can reinforce who might be getting the upper hand at any point. The two men sidestep in pursuit over the seats, perch on the tables, pounce on condiments and sugar shakers to illustrate their points, kneel on the counter and pin each other down in the alcoves. Silhouettes of hurrying passers-by lend something quite surreal to the scene. The audience gets sucked into the fantasy even before the play starts, drawn to watching First Man's compulsive behaviour around his teacup. Reddington and MacCreedy, as the seedy and unsavoury versus the sharp and slick, savour every minute of dialogue that has flavours of Beckett, Pinter, Dario Fo and even Oscar Wilde. Baffling at times but enormous fun. [Pat Ashworth] |
| Metro First performed on radio in 1967, David Halliwell's curiously titled play is a little-known theatrical gem. Two men, whose real names we never quite know, meet in a retro self-service diner at a motorway service station. First manis played with seedy charm (and a cross between a Peter Cook and Harold Steptoe sensibility) by Ian Reddington. He sits at his formica table, stirs tea with his finger - and tells us about the con-artist he's waiting for, who stole £249 from him a decade earlier. Unfortunately, nothing in Halliwell's drama is simple. Second Man (David MacCreedy) first denies all memory, then suggests his accuser might not be all he seems, either. As the whirlwind of lies, half-truths and increasingly improbable explanations gather force, it seems the pair aren't even sure themselves who they are - or what might (or might not) have happened between them. Matt Aston's direction makes the absurd premise work, with Halliwell's surreal dialogue matched by subtle physical comedy and a realistic set. It plays out a Marx Brothers comedy scripted by Pinter or Beckett, making for a fast-paced and ridiculously entertaining 70 minutes. [Wayne Burrows] |
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