| Uplifting, charming, moving and satisfying |
At Louche Theatre |
| The Bespoke Overcoat-Louche Theatre in association with Aberystwyth Arts Centre , Aberystwyth Arts Centre , February 16, 2007 |
A theatregoing body can tire of biting social comment, the exposition of the gritty and urban and the relentless grinding of the knives of the just on the whetstone of man’s inhumanity to man. Sometimes it is a life-enhancing tonic to just enjoy a few moments’ gentle entertainment, a good story and some deliciously velvety writing. That, after my feed of discomfiting theatre last week – sometimes for the right reasons, sometimes for the wrong – was what local director Harry Durnall and his company brought us in the form of Wolf Mankowitz’s theatrical short subject ‘The Bespoke Overcoat’.This bittersweet, tender, delicate, funny and deeply moving play looks at the deep friendship of two ageing Jews – Morrey, a bespoke tailor, and Fender, the down-at-heel but intensely genuine clerk who has commissioned a new overcoat from him, but dies before its completion before returning to this life to claim his due sartorial right. Harry Durnall’s set design was for a simple, three-area playing space in the intimate surroundings of the Arts Centre’s Round Studio, with just the perfect marriage of detail and minimalism. Morrey’s tailor’s sign hung on a brick-effect wall in front of a sewing machine and a chair in the centre, with his lodgings to one side and Fender’s clerk’s desk in a clothing warehouse on the other. The central area also doubled as warehouse owner Ranting’s home and an subway platform and train. Behind it, a simple, non-intrusive black flat which allowed for transit between areas and also occasional minor costume changes. This environment was complemented beautifully by Jac Gough’s fluid, mood-embracing lighting design, and Andy Gatherar’s sound, not to mention Auriel Martin’s very apt and well-deployed costumes. The central partnership of Morrey and Fender were engagingly and heart-warmingly played by, respectively, Sandy Spence and Harry Durnall, the latter of which was deputising for Derek Bell, who, unfortunately, was taken ill shortly before the play opened last night. Spence was a delightful Morrey, embracing the part of the good-hearted, slightly drunken tailor with warmth, wit, tender delicacy and great watchability. Durnall, though partly working with script in hand (a script which, it must be said, was so well-known by Durnall and so well-disguised as Fender’s clerk’s notebook that it was scarcely noticeable) lent all his considerable talent to the part and created a put-upon but good-humoured character that was endearing, witty and highly sympathetic. This talent also shone through in his subtle, devastatingly effective direction. Alan Mehdizadeh played Fender’s hard-nosed and eminently dislikeable boss Ranting with force but with a sufficiently soft touch as to make him human and believable, while the remaining cast member, Alex Gilbey, carried with him just the right amount of naïve arrogance to carry off the part of the new clerk brought in to replace Fender. This play had it all – laughs, tears and above all, the warm, silk-clad steel of true friendship. It was uplifting, charming, moving and satisfying all at once. And they managed that in a running time of just under fifty minutes. So, you see, it CAN be done! Unfortunately the run has ended, but rumours abound of a future tour. Until then, congratulations to the company, and my sincere good wishes to Derek Bell who, but for his illness, would have shown us, I am reliably informed, a performance of Fender with which to define the role. |
Reviewed by: Paddy Cooper |
This review has been read 3758 times There are 25 other reviews of productions with this title in our database:
|
