The Play What I Wrote
Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne
Playing from August 1st to 30th
A celebration of the legendary comedy duo Morecambe and Wise provided an evening of laughs and happy memories at Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne, on Wednesday.
Ben Roddy and Daniel Crowder are able to pay glowing tributes to Eric and Ernie, but The Play That I Wrote actually casts them as an unsuccessful comic double act called Ben and Daniel.
Daniel believes he is a serious playwright and wants to perform his latest ‘masterpiece’ set in the French Revolution called A Tight Squeeze for the Scarlet Pimple, which is actually as bad as one of Ernie Wise’s plays. He is tricked by Ben into impersonating Morecambe and Wise instead.
Both want to play Eric but, not surprisingly, Daniel, a frustrated, disillusioned straight man, finds himself being the much-mocked Ernie.
Roddy and Crowder throw themselves – sometimes literally – into the roles and capture many of Eric and Ernie’s mannerisms.
But the talented Marc Pickering steals some scenes as Arthur, a stage electrician who is required to do his own share of impersonations. His impressive range of characters include a West End producer and a female singer.
Eddie Braben, who wrote many of Morecambe and Wise’s BBC scripts, is the co-writer of The Play What I Wrote together with Hamish McColl and Sean Foley, while Chris Jordan is the director. They come up with a good mix of silliness, homage and nostalgia.
In addition to many of the comic duo’s famous quips, routines, sketches and songs, the famous gold curtains used in their televised shows are replicated.
There’s also a special guest star. Sue Holderness, best known as Marlene from the iconic Only Fools and Horses, comic favourite Joe Pasquale, ex-Eastbournian Michael Praed (Dynasty and Emmerdale), and Lee Latchford Evans, from multi-million selling band STEPS, take it in turns to fill this role.
On Wednesday Sue Holderness captured the spirit perfectly and allowed herself to be sent up by gags at her expense. Arthur impersonated her, too, after being persuaded to do so by Ben, but I feel the script writers missed a trick here. In my view there would have been more laughs if the real Sue had been mistaken for Arthur in disguise while he remained off stage.
Hopefully, bigger audiences than that attending on Wednesday will come along to soak up the atmosphere created by the set and costume designs of Julie Godfrey and original music arrangements by Robert Cousins.
