Me & My Girl
Chichester Festival Theatre
The show is a superb revival, no attempt to ram anything serious into its eel pie and diamond tiara flimflam; it joyfully declares its shallowness and takes it one step further into utterly enchanting daftness. I always wonder at a revival of a show of this age if anyone will try and make it relevant, no such attempts here, the story is pared back a touch, a light re-balancing, the crisp script perfectly silly and joke after joke lands with a divine perfection which brought belly laughs out of this cynical critic.
The plot is pretty pedestrian, there is very little tension or drama, and its irritating elements are played down. This is a love story at heart and the focus is kept rightly there. The songs are amusing but there’s no stand out, just nostalgic fun but they’re sung with perfection and the ensemble pieces are a delight.
It’s always a thrill when an understudy steps up, particularly when they are filling in for a performer of Matt Lucas’s standing, the audience were visibly disappointed when told by the lilting welsh voice of Director Daniel Evans but they didn’t stay that way for long. To see Ryan Pidgen – who usually plays the chef – land the role so utterly perfectly was a masterclass in jumping on, seizing the moment and riding it to the winners post. He was superb, his timing spot on, his dancing looking like he’d been rehearsing it for months, the off sides, the looks and pure romantic charm all worked fabulously. Alex Young as Sally was just as sweet and simple and ensured the romantic element was convincing. Caroline Quentin very nearly steals the show with her impressive voice and is the very model of a maiden aunty, full of withering asides and steely warmth but it was together they shone and the audience loved them.
The uncomplicated narrative is rags to riches, about someone rising to the occasion, from barro’ boy to belted earl, we had the pleasure of watching a meta-story tonight, and it was a delight as it unfolded with such a slick and engaging polish.
The supporting cast is brilliant with singers and dancers fusing to make this show feel very much bigger than it actually is. Jacqui Dubois voice is stand out, as is Jennie Dale’s wonderfully indulgent Parchester’s dancing. Siubhan Harrison was a sublime comic treat and Clive Rowe puffed and pouted with a seriously silly Wodehousian perfection.
Gareth Valentine conducted the band with verve, although they were very loud but with a half dozen tap dancing land-girls in wellington tap boots at one point it helped, he’s nudged the music, creating a superbly manic samba version of the ‘Sun has got his Hat on’. The music on occasion did give the lyrics a fuzzy edge, but the dancing just kept giving and giving. Rachel Dickson’s costumes deserves a mention, melding Brideshead summer society and flapper glamour with 1930’s working class detail delightfully evocative. The chorography from Alistair David is impressive with flourishes and references aplenty, particularly dazzling are the interlinked lifts and dancing of Harrisons Lady Jaqueline’s ‘Thinking of no one but me’.
The set worked almost as hard as the cast, shifting and rolling, rising and falling, complex but effortless, a distorted perspective giving the main façade of Hareford Hall a huge presence and some delightfully silly touches. Les Brotherstons design gives the cast a thoroughly good place to sparkle in.
I was charmed by this show; the audience gave it a roaring standing ovation, deserved by the hard working full tap dancing cast who hardly stopped for a moment in their all singing, all dancing slightly demented action scenes. Quentin and Pidgen especially deserved it for giving top notch performances that gleamed with warmth and talent.
Well done Mr Pidgen for surpassing our expectations and well done Chichester Festival Theatre for this heart-warming production of this old classic. My companion, a first timer at the Festival Theatre was impressed by the comfort and space of the theatre itself as much as by this engaging essentially lighthearted British production.
We left whistling the tunes in the warm summer air and doing the Lambeth walk, Oi!
Play until August 25
For more info or to book tickets see the Chichester Festival Theatre website.