Tailor Made Love

By Derek - 18th Dec 2006

Fairytale Pinnochio in a Dickensian world laced with the acerbic wit of a world weary stand-up comedian. Its hard to describe this show concisely without missing vital elements which make it so entertaining.

Not simply a play. Not simply stand-up. Not just a performance. Philip Brodie and Andrew Clarkson have written a piece which is a delicious preparation for the Christmas celebrations. It has enough bite, campness and topical one-liners to please any discerning modern audience, interwoven with an old-fashioned moral tale where the crabby old tailor realises the error of his ways.

Excellent use of dummies and props allow Phil Brodie to inhabit the stage with a sparkling array of characters. He offers a range of sane, realistic and sadly recognisable individuals who give a grounding to allow his sumptuous flights of ridiculous character fancy – many of them are just bonkers! Charlie gets many laughs from his one-liners. And some Charlie would help you to tune in to Gabriel. Maybe Anne wouldn’t have Brignoe’s babies, but several ladies in the audience would! And pay attention to the music, there’s so much to savour…

Phil Hewitt excels once again with precise and evocative lighting and sound. I would have been happy if the play had ended with his final time-filling montage before Brodie’s final entrance – it would have left us with a little more curiosity about what might have happened. The redemption is a little quick , but avoids a ladle of saccharine at the end.

Turn down the traditional leaden Christmas shows and try something refreshingly different. As one of my companions said: “Its just funny, actually”

Derek Benfield