Joy Watters reviews the tour of the recent Edinburgh Fringe hit.
This Gilded Balloon award-winner from the Edinburgh Fringe, which boasts the talents of Andy Gray and Grant Stott, now hits the road. It's a funny old show in all senses, painting a portrait of two middle-aged men, brought low in life and looking for love.
The pair, in their grotty adjacent bedsets, bond initially through a shared love of Shirley Bassey. Ross (Andy Gray) is the more outgoing, worldly of the two; Graham (Grant Stott) is shy and awkward, particularly so as we see the pair trying to find the women of their dreams.
A two-hander directed by Sam Kane, the pair take on the roles of all the female characters, from the owner of their seedy boarding house to terrifying dates, with hilarious effect. Donning hats and wigs, the panto factor comes into play—these performers are seasoned in the genre. Writer Philip Meeks intersperses the laughs with some poignant passages, revealing what has brought the pair to such a low ebb. Gray and Stott may be better known for comedy but they movingly convey the pain of loss. The horrors of contemporary dating, a million miles away from romance, are sent up mercilessly, and in the midst of some pretty filthy and funny lines lay the painful feelings of these guys. It's a strange mixture.
There's a hint of Laurel and Hardy and a touch of the Odd Couple in Ross and Graham's relationship. At times, Grant Stott has the sweet sad look reminiscent of Buster Keaton as life slaps him round the face again. Audiences understandably adore Andy Gray. Who doesn't want a good laugh? He gave the audience what they wanted, using the comic skills he has honed to perfection over the years. The dim lighting contributed to the feeling of sordidness of the bedsit world, but it would have been good to have more light on Gray's face at times to capture those great facial expressions.
The most laughs were when the work went completely off the realism scale in a breakneck sequence. This put the only female lodger, played by Gray, in the spotlight as a Miss Marple on speed, outlining peripheral events as if it was all a murder mystery. Quite what that scene was doing there is a mystery but hey, it made people laugh.
Touring throughout September and October
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