Come
On Feel The Noise!
Director - David Mark Thompson
Designer - Becky Minto
Text - Devised by the company
Musical Director and Arranger - Jack McGowan
Company- Brunton Theatre Company
Venue - Brunton Theatre Musselburgh 0131 665 2240
20 Mins by Bus from central Edinburgh with simple but tasty cafe and
bar, good sightlines
Dates - 21 Sept - 6 Oct at 7:30pm not Suns, Matinee Sat
6 at 2:30pm
Reviewer - Neil Ingram
Brunton Theatre's new musical takes you back to the Seventies, the time
fashion forgot. So get out your flares and your platform shoes, put
on the biggest wig you can find and get down there to catch a stunning
show- you'll know all the songs, and you'll laugh yourself silly at
the four young characters.
The action is set in Bryan's garage- he still lives with his mother-
well, he actually lives in the garage, with his keyboards and other
instruments, and here his band, the Pretty Things, rehearse every evening.
Except that band members keep leaving, and he has no lead guitarist/singer,
so the action starts with Bryan and the other two remaining members
of the band, Jackie and Joseph, wondering how to find a replacement.
In walks Craig, who Joe saw busking in the High Street. He's obviously
played a bit, to judge from his audition piece, 20th Century Man, and
he's a bit Glaswegian, as Joe says, but they decide to take him. In
truth, they have no choice, with a gig lined up in just over a week
that they can't avoid doing. From here the story tears along, as they
rehearse for their big date and find out surprising things about each
other.
Getting a musical to work first time is difficult, but this is a triumph
for all concerned- a strong story line, very funny and tight dialogue,
some brilliant physical acting, and great performances of 15 songs from
the period. The cast are all stars, dressed in the glittering
garb of a far off time of innocence. P J Henry's Joseph is an
endearingly confused child of the 70s, quoting Zen and wearing stranger
and stranger clothes. Jackie works at Woolie's on the sweet counter,
and Claire Knight gives her a bouncy energy and enthusiasm that
keeps the band together. Jack McGowan is marvellous as Bryan, a self-centred mummy's boy who's never
really grown up but thinks he's the brains behind the band. John
Kielty as Craig is a cool silver-clad outsider, confident when playing
and singing, self-assured, yet careful in his handling of the others,
and Crazy Bob is something else!
The first night audience needed little excuse to dig out some extraordinary
clothes, and then filled the theatre with noise and life. They waved
their arms, clapped and sang, some of them danced, and at the end they
stood and cheered for more. The best first night I've seen in years,
and the magic should be the same every night for the whole run.
© Neil Ingram 21 September 2001