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The Dex on stage
Apr. 17th, 2010 11:37 pmOn Thursday 8th April I went to see Dexter Fletcher appearing in 'Dumb Show' at the Rose Theatre in Kingston upon Thames. This fulfilled part of my ambition to see all main cast members of Press Gang live in person at some point. Sadly, none of my fellow PG geeks were able to accompany me but it wasn't a problem as my ever reliable parents (and randomly a friend of my mum's who happened to be staying with them) were happy to join me.
The Rose Theatre is fairly new. It opened in January 2008 after many, many problems with funding and this was our first visit. It's design is based on that of it's rather more famous namesake in central London. The auditorium is round with the stage taking up around a third of the circumference. There are seats on three levels and a round, flat area immediately in front of the stage which people can bring their own cushion to sit on for the bargainous price of £7. There is a wide corridor around the outside of the auditorium where the bar and restaurant are located.
'Dumb Show' is a three person play by Joe Penhall which was originally performed in 2004. The Rose production was advertised as the first major revival of the play since it's premiere. It featured Sanjeev Bhaskar (local hero of mine - he's from Hounslow) as a 'national hero' comedian and Dexter Fletcher and Emma Cunniffe (she was in The Lakes - you'd recognise her if you saw her) as two tabloid hacks using dubious means to expose him as a bit of a sod. In general the play was OK. There were points where the cast appeared to become confused about their lines which had a negative impact on the pace. It was also unfortunate that the audio in the theatre was a bit dodgy. When an actor crossed from one side of the stage they seemed to pass from one pick up to another so if they spoke in the centre of the stage it wasn't amplified. The characters in the play were all pretty unpleasant and I'm generally not keen on plays which focus on nasty people being unkind to one another. Barry, the comedian, behaved so badly when he was being duped that it was impossible to feel sorry for him. The journalists were completely amoral (especially Dexter's character) and it painted a rather depressing picture of life in 'celeb obsessed' Britain in the 2000s. The dialogue was also a bit clunky and it went on for too long.
Dexter was looking pretty good, although I really wish he'd cut his hair, as it's enormous at the moment and appears to have a life of it's own. He wore a suit the whole time which was great news for someone like me who likes a man in a suit. His acting was faultless. He was very believable as an unpleasant, sex obsessed hack which made a change from the 'cheeky chappie' he tends to play. It wasn't lost on me that he was playing a journalist. It was possible to imagine that this was Spike 20 years on making his living as a journalist in a less moral world and that the editor on the phone was Lynda desperate for a story. However, I don't think Spike would have sunk that low, I've always imagined him using dubious means to investigate the affairs of dodgy companies poisoning water supplies or something, not picking on easy targets like stupid celebrities. Thank goodness he was able to use his natural accent though!
All in all I was glad I went. Dexter doesn't appear on stage often and certainly not so close to my home. It was also good to visit the Rose for the first time. A note of caution though people, the Rose flip up seats are doubles. It's a good idea to sit next to someone you know well as you will have to co-ordinate with them every time you need to sit down and stand up! This was quite frequent for us as we were at the end of the row and there is no centre aisle. The interval ice cream, in case you were interested, was excellent.
I saw Julia Sawalha in a play called The Memory of Water back in 1998 (I don't think she's done a play since then) so now I need to see Lee Ross (who I narrowly missed seeing in Whipping it Up a few years ago) and Paul Reynolds. I'm not really all that bothered about any other cast members who are still acting. If anyone finds out that they're doing a play especially if it's in the South West London or Surrey area, give me a shout.
The Rose Theatre is fairly new. It opened in January 2008 after many, many problems with funding and this was our first visit. It's design is based on that of it's rather more famous namesake in central London. The auditorium is round with the stage taking up around a third of the circumference. There are seats on three levels and a round, flat area immediately in front of the stage which people can bring their own cushion to sit on for the bargainous price of £7. There is a wide corridor around the outside of the auditorium where the bar and restaurant are located.
'Dumb Show' is a three person play by Joe Penhall which was originally performed in 2004. The Rose production was advertised as the first major revival of the play since it's premiere. It featured Sanjeev Bhaskar (local hero of mine - he's from Hounslow) as a 'national hero' comedian and Dexter Fletcher and Emma Cunniffe (she was in The Lakes - you'd recognise her if you saw her) as two tabloid hacks using dubious means to expose him as a bit of a sod. In general the play was OK. There were points where the cast appeared to become confused about their lines which had a negative impact on the pace. It was also unfortunate that the audio in the theatre was a bit dodgy. When an actor crossed from one side of the stage they seemed to pass from one pick up to another so if they spoke in the centre of the stage it wasn't amplified. The characters in the play were all pretty unpleasant and I'm generally not keen on plays which focus on nasty people being unkind to one another. Barry, the comedian, behaved so badly when he was being duped that it was impossible to feel sorry for him. The journalists were completely amoral (especially Dexter's character) and it painted a rather depressing picture of life in 'celeb obsessed' Britain in the 2000s. The dialogue was also a bit clunky and it went on for too long.
Dexter was looking pretty good, although I really wish he'd cut his hair, as it's enormous at the moment and appears to have a life of it's own. He wore a suit the whole time which was great news for someone like me who likes a man in a suit. His acting was faultless. He was very believable as an unpleasant, sex obsessed hack which made a change from the 'cheeky chappie' he tends to play. It wasn't lost on me that he was playing a journalist. It was possible to imagine that this was Spike 20 years on making his living as a journalist in a less moral world and that the editor on the phone was Lynda desperate for a story. However, I don't think Spike would have sunk that low, I've always imagined him using dubious means to investigate the affairs of dodgy companies poisoning water supplies or something, not picking on easy targets like stupid celebrities. Thank goodness he was able to use his natural accent though!
All in all I was glad I went. Dexter doesn't appear on stage often and certainly not so close to my home. It was also good to visit the Rose for the first time. A note of caution though people, the Rose flip up seats are doubles. It's a good idea to sit next to someone you know well as you will have to co-ordinate with them every time you need to sit down and stand up! This was quite frequent for us as we were at the end of the row and there is no centre aisle. The interval ice cream, in case you were interested, was excellent.
I saw Julia Sawalha in a play called The Memory of Water back in 1998 (I don't think she's done a play since then) so now I need to see Lee Ross (who I narrowly missed seeing in Whipping it Up a few years ago) and Paul Reynolds. I'm not really all that bothered about any other cast members who are still acting. If anyone finds out that they're doing a play especially if it's in the South West London or Surrey area, give me a shout.
