I am unashamed to admit that I was looking forward to this production. I am a huge fan of the original television series and I was interested to see how it would translate onto the stage. Sadly, it was my fondness of the original that made this stage adaptation seem lacklustre.
It is not that it was badly acted; in fact the production boasted several enjoyable and charismatic performances, which if viewed on their own merits are completely acceptable. However when they are compared to the original t.v show performances they seem merely to be weak imitations. In fact the term ‘weak imitation’ can sum up this production. I was hoping for a new play; a unique text, some jokes I hadn’t heard before. Excitingly the stage play was scripted by the original writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. Instead the audience were presented with several of the most well known episodes condensed into a two-hour play. Therefore the fans were presented with their favourite lines and jokes acted out by inferior performers.
If anything this production was fairly insulting to any fans of the series. They paid money to see jokes they had heard previously spoken by the incomparable Ronnie Barker, acted out by a fairly average bunch of actors.
The show did have its merits. A simple but effective stage, managed to convey the spirit of Slade Prison. Sean Williamson ('Barry off Eastenders') took on the nigh impossible task of re-creating Fletcher and whilst his performance was not in the same league as Ronnie Barker’s he did a creditable job, and it was his charisma that managed to carry the show.
It was laziness that let this production down. If the play had had a new script the audience would have had nothing to compare against, but by recycling the original text they were setting themselves an impossible task. It is an impossible task to re-create the magic of the television series. All in all a disappointing evening of theatre.
It is not that it was badly acted; in fact the production boasted several enjoyable and charismatic performances, which if viewed on their own merits are completely acceptable. However when they are compared to the original t.v show performances they seem merely to be weak imitations. In fact the term ‘weak imitation’ can sum up this production. I was hoping for a new play; a unique text, some jokes I hadn’t heard before. Excitingly the stage play was scripted by the original writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. Instead the audience were presented with several of the most well known episodes condensed into a two-hour play. Therefore the fans were presented with their favourite lines and jokes acted out by inferior performers.
If anything this production was fairly insulting to any fans of the series. They paid money to see jokes they had heard previously spoken by the incomparable Ronnie Barker, acted out by a fairly average bunch of actors.
The show did have its merits. A simple but effective stage, managed to convey the spirit of Slade Prison. Sean Williamson ('Barry off Eastenders') took on the nigh impossible task of re-creating Fletcher and whilst his performance was not in the same league as Ronnie Barker’s he did a creditable job, and it was his charisma that managed to carry the show.
It was laziness that let this production down. If the play had had a new script the audience would have had nothing to compare against, but by recycling the original text they were setting themselves an impossible task. It is an impossible task to re-create the magic of the television series. All in all a disappointing evening of theatre.
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