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NEWSREVUE
Verdict: Wonderful
London - Canal Café Theatre, August 2002
Producer Emma Taylor's to be congratulated for turning out two stunning versions of
Newsrevue at the same time. In Edinburgh she has a truly outstanding show (see separate
review) directed by Odette Abbott. In London, she can be justly proud of
Andrew Byron's excellent Newsrevue debut as actor/director for August to September.
Emma Bentley, Andrew Byron, Damian Kell and Sarah-Louise Young form the tightest possible
team of actors. They give blissful harmonies, underscored by Pete Smith's fine piano work.
And they deliver some really quite incredibly dirty jokes with an infectious delight that
warms the air.
Sarah-Louise Young's a superb assistant to the new Archbishop of Cantebury, browsing 'Big
Cocks' magazine to give the Established Church some much-needed uplift. She's a great
interviewer trying to force a reluctant professor into wild speculation about a plane
crash. She's also an excellent Kylie (quite a lot sexier too).
Damian Kell does good Tony Blair and sings him to perfection, a fine Prince Charles,
and his George Bush is alarmingly accurate. He's great as a man who can't get asking
a drug dealer for smack right, the hapless victim of a talking cashpoint, and a
chat-show host with the luckless task of interviewing a singing Dr Harold Shipman.
Andrew Byron speaks fluent Russian, giving depth to his President Putin.
He endows him with a cool menace and some great lines, via his translator, to Kell's Bush
('Fucking good. You are cool son of bitch'). His Harold Shipman, recalling his old
mate Slobodan Milosovic before singing a customised version of Live and Let
Die, brings laughs with a searing afterburn.
Emma Bentley's a fabulous Queen putting Kell's Charles ('Anything you can do I can
do better') firmly in his place, a manic police commander tossing dead babies and hapless
pedestrians as her driver speeds through London's traffic, a very funny victim of
Stephen Byers, and a breathtaking Davinia McCall.
There are superb ensemble numbers, excellently choreographed by the cast, perhaps the
finest in a pantheon of excellence being Marc Blakewill and Matt Bates surprisingly
tender 'Summer Sports' (high concept: no shagging while the lads watch sport).
NewsRevue is written by a team of about 30 writers. Those sampled in this London run
include: Odette Abbott, Matt Bates, Martin Baum, Marc Blakewill, Chris Bryant, Andrew Byron, the cast,
Noel Christopher, John Cowan, Terry Franks-Newman, Thomas Garvey, James Harris,
John Hodiak, Rupert Keenlyside, Matt Malone, Alun Maxwell, Frances May,
Simon Ounsworth, John Random, Andrea Sadler, Colin Stutt, Mike Tier,
Tanya Tier, Ron Winkworth and others.
Musical Director Pete Smith. Smart lights and sound from Technical
Director Rupert Lally. Producer Emma Taylor.
END
Fringe Report at first night Thursday 25 July 02
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2009
