Paul Greenwood and Kate Dyson in You Can Always Hand Them Back at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester
You Can Always Hand The Back continues at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester until 28 June.
If you’re of a certain age and want a joyous nostalgia show, this may be just the one for you. Working from a deliciously funny script by Roger Hall – author of the legendary hit comedy Middle-Age Spread, to which this might almost seem like a sequel – Peter Skellern has woven a series of entrancing songs, scripting his own lyrics teased from the homely script.
They get better and better, so the second half of this harmless, old codgerish, frequently side-splitting musical evening has you on the edge of your seat, eager for quips, maybe more than the first. We were, admittedly, a veteran audience, so the aches and agues of being a grandparent probably rang bells for almost everyone in the room.
Is it funny? You bet. Is it perfect? Maybe not. Is it touching? Definitely. Skellern’s charming style is a self-confessed medley – he recalls the impact Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter and Oscar Hammerstein had on him in childhood, and aspires to capture some of that inspired polish too. “I don’t come close, but that’s my goal.” There’s even a hint of a tango and rumba.
Well, if you’re not moved by ‘They Grow Up So Quickly’ or ‘I Still Got It Honey’ (“This body may have been around the block; but I still got miles on this hoochy-coochy clock”), or ‘Grandmas and Grandpas Live On Forever’, sharing fond memories of the laughter and tears grandchildren bring, I’ll eat my hat.
The joy of this production is the two – just two – actors. Kate Dyson (Grandma Cath) and Paul Greenwood (Grandpa Maurice). Both have lovely, alluring voices that turn out a song with a kind of relaxed Noel Coward or Maurice Chevalier finesse – the sort of quality Skellern is aspiring to and often matches. These two engaging performers are tip-top. And their costumes are perfect.
Gin-toping Greenwood, who has the lion’s share of the witticisms, is particularly affecting. He wheels grandson number one through the park, and aches to get him playing football (there are two children, Annabel and Marcus; one ghastly homesick Aussie in-law (Julia); and four grandchildren, two of each. One, Leonard, shows ‘left foot promise’; Ollie, the wimp or ‘wuss’, emerges as a promising child actor in musicals (Pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat). But it’s brilliant make-believe. We don’t see any of them.
The set (Jane Linz-Roberts) helps a lot. Essentially it’s a cushy white sofa with grand piano stage right, odd tables/cupboards, and a stairlift on which Greenwood makes a splendid first entry, mirrored by Grandpa’s final farewell at the end. It’s the quality of speaking, incidentally, as well as singing, that makes this stage show so strong and impressive. You don’t miss a word.
Greenwood’s delicious acting is sharp, clever and funny. Grandpa’s number ‘The Age of Bewilderment’ (“I couldn’t connect the DVD. And what’s a USB? It’s mother’s milk to an eight-year-old but sadly not to me”) is arguably the best song in the show. His pram-pushing, TV-addict grandad is a simply great, perfectly timed, ultra-witty creation. Dyson is a joy too (“What are you doing?” “Watching TV.” “You’ll wake the baby.” “It’s on mute.”) And she’s marvellous on Skype.
So these two make for a delightful evening. The very able (and vocal) musical director Stefan Bednarczyk could lighten up a little on the keys early on, and the Mercury piano itself might have been more mellow and drawing-roomy. But these are small gripes in a finely directed (Andrew Breakwell), beautifully acted and enchantingly melodious show that will warm the cockles of many ageing hearts.
Roderic Dunnett
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Peter Skellern chats about new musical You Can Always Hand Them Back – Interview
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