Theatre Royal, Glasgow
Four stars
Life in the 1980s was the best of times for some, the worst for others. Few pop culture creations understood these two sides of the same credit card than John Sullivan’s masterly sit-com of working class aspiration during the Thatcherite boom years. At the show’s heart were siblings Del Boy and Rodney Trotter, the hapless duo attempting to navigate their way through life, but somehow never quite making a million.
This loving homage penned by Sullivan’s son Jim Sullivan with The Fast Show’s Paul Whitehouse revitalises Sullivan senior’s original with a bonus of the sort of showtunes that would make Lionel Bart’s back catalogue sound abstract by comparison. This is not to the detriment of Caroline Jay Ranger’s production, which brings the old gang back together in something akin to the big screen versions of sitcoms that filled cinemas back in the 1970s. Trigger, Boycie, Cassandra, Raquel and all the rest are in attendance in a series of smartly observed impressions from the show’s big cast.
At the centre of this is Whitehouse’s pitch perfect portrayal of Grandad and, making his professional acting debut, Tom Major, who makes Rodney somewhat less of a plonker than in the TV version. Sam Lupton’s popeyed embodiment of Del Boy, meanwhile, is an eternally optimistic symbol of London’s black economy and its forthcoming gentrification as predicted by Trigger’s crystal ball.
Much of Sullivan and Whitehouse’s script focuses on the respective courtships of Rodney and Cassandra on the one hand, and Del Boy and Raquel. There are also some very interesting animated fireworks to accompany Boycie and Marlene’s struggle for a baby. Whitehouse and Sullivan’s songs knock off a bunch of musical theatre influences, with musical input too from Sullivan senior and the late Chas Hodges. There is time enough too for a couple of 1980s wine bar pop classics, with Gloria Acquaah-Harrison in particularly fine voice in what amounts to a full English of a show having a glorious knees-up.
The Herald, October 30th 2024
ends
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