UK Theatre Network

The Royal Exchange is usually a pantomime-free zone come Christmas time - but they’ve broken the mould this year with a Lancashire-set “Cinderella Circa 1910” by Harold “Hobson’s Choice” Brighouse.  And in the best gender role reversal tradition of panto, Cinderella is played by a boy.

 Zack is a distinctly unheroic hero - a gormless innocent with a big heart whose lack of social airs make him an embarrassment to his aspiring petit-bourgeois family.  After a lifetime of emotional neglect and constant criticism inflicted by his battleaxe mother, Mrs Munning, and miserly brother, Paul, they’ve even sacked him from his job in the family catering firm because his only suit (a hand-me-down from his dead dad) has worn to rags.

 Enter Zack’s Fairy Godmother-cum-Prince(ss) Charming, in the form of beautiful and rich cousin Virginia, who immediately sees what’s going on - until the artful Paul, scheming mother, and some sexual misadventures on Zack’s part convince her otherwise.

 If you’re familiar with the film career of George Formby then you’ll immediately be at home with this style of gentle northern comedy, where the unlikely protagonist wins out despite nothing to recommend him but a mixture of good humour and pathos.  Zack is played by local comedian Justin Moorhouse - for those unfamiliar with his work, he’s the guy you’d ring if you couldn’t get Johnny Vegas - and he’s certainly “got a gift for jollification”, as well as eliciting several choruses of “ahhh” from the audience when his fortunes fall.

 Pearce Quigley’s Eeyore-ish Paul is as drippy as his lank moustache (“there isn’t a woman on earth worth buying roses for at sixpence a bloom”), while Polly Hemingway as their mother nicely catches the sharp-tongued quality of the aspiring lower-middle-class (“your ways would make a cat laugh”).

 Greg Hersov’s production finds the anarchic nature of “Lancy” humour in the comparatively small roles of dirt poor Martha Wrigley (played with all the spirit of an Eliza Doolittle by Samantha Power) and the bogus servant Sally Teale (rendered with an hilarious lack of deference by Michelle Tate).

 Although Hobson’s Choice is Harold Brighouse’s greatest hit and a deservedly iconic play, Zack is also an enjoyable example of the work of the Manchester School of Playwrights - and even the panto-averse won’t object to its fairytale happy ending.

  Zack is on until Saturday 22 January 2011

Prices: £9-£30

Evenings: Mon-Fri @ 7.30 (not 24 Dec); Sats @ 8pm

Matinees: Weds @ 2.30pm (also Tues 21 & Fri 24 Dec); Sats @ 4pm (& Mon 27 Dec)

Box Office: 0161 833 9833

www.royalexchange.co.uk

Hit West End comedy lands in Glasgow for a flying visit as part of it’s UK Tour.

When flight changes on a visit to London meant that I missed this play on it’s West End run (little realising the irony), I was more than delighted to see it touring to Glasgow this year, and went along with high expectations. These expectations were dampened slightly by the rather bare and dirty front cloth, which had me hoping that more care had been taken with rest of the production out on tour. However, once the curtain went up and the performance began, we saw we were in for a treat.

Martin Marquez, as Bernard gave a very enigmatic and charming performance, and looked far more handsome than his “sleazy barman” image from Hotel Babylon. His brother John (here playing his cousin!) however stole the show. His slow progression from the stuttering provincial cousin, to unintentional ladies man was a delight to watch. The naturalness of his nervous tics were in stark contrast to the physical humour played out during the second act of this farce, and as with all comedy, playing it for real makes it seem all the funnier.

Onto the ladies, and the three mistresses gave great performances too. Not only do these three ladies look stunning, but they have the intelligence to handle good comic timing, most notably in the rather wordier first act. Sarah Jayne Dunn made the transfer from Hollyoaks to Hollywood, as the glamorous and fiesty American Gloria. Thaila Zucchi, of TV’s Balls Of Steel, showed exactly that as the forthright Italian Gabriella. The gutsy German, Gretchen, was excellently characterised by Jospehine Butler, and although neither of the european accents were entirely convincing, the performances definitely were. However, top of the tree for performance was Susie Blake. Her deadpan delivery as downtrodden domestic servant Bertha was poetry in motion. The timing of movement and putdowns showed another layer to this versatile actress.

The set design was simple and clean, which is ideal for a door slamming farce such as this, with the odd splash of colour to break up the white, and help focus the action. The randomness of the Curtain Call Choreography was entertaining and intriguing and for some strange reason, fitted into the whole evening of enjoyable theatre that was Boeing Boeing.