Theatre and Dance Reviews

Alan B'Stard in younger days

B'stard is back!

One of the privileges of being British is to be able to satirise the Government and the Royal Family without ending up sharing a fish eye or two with Alexander Solzhenitsin or wearing an orange boiler suit with a sack on your head.

This production revitalises Rik Mayall's Alan B'stard and he's changed sides. The former Tory is now ensconced in number 9 Downing Street as the puppet master behind New Labour. He has the ear of world leaders and a mini-skirted Condoleezza Rice regularly drops in by helicopter.

Now just two months old, Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran's script remains fresh with some topical upgrades ,although they have avoided becoming embroiled in the Middle East situation. Instead B'Stard is fully occupied with fobbing various parties off after he has inadvertently lost the Weapons of Mass Destruction. Actually they're not lost but hidden in the vaults of the BBC who have built a new studio on top of them where they make the irritating dancing introductions to their programmes. Bring back the hot air balloon.

The satire is vicious and no member of Blair's government is exempt with some particularly vicious digs at Cherie Blair. Sometimes it is sinister… the implication that B'Stard killed David Kelly for example.

B'stard returns to power

This is obviously a vehicle for Mayall but there are some superb supporting roles. Marsha Fitzalan reprieves B'Stard's Machiavellian wife Sarah. Clive Hayward is superb as B'Stard's PPS Frank Lee. Frank is a died in the wool socialist who is the most unlikely person to work for his boss. The play opens with a Bottom-like display of violence as Frank tries to find the evidence which is being used to blackmail him. His hands are shut in the filing cabinet and he's smashed in the face with a dispatch box.

Alexandra Gunn is convincing as Condoleezza Rice, although occasionally her stage positioning makes her difficult to hear. No such problem with Helen Baker as Blair babe Flora who shines with youthful exuberance, although deep down she's as manipulative as B'stard.

Rik Myall has aged B'stard. He's greying at the temples and has filled out a bit. I've always had one difficulty with his portrayal of B'Stard though. Mayall has to retain elements of his "Young Ones" and "Bottom" characters. Therefore the sexual references are blatant and his facial expressions seem inappropriate for a man of his age and influence. The subject matter here is dark and with a little more gravity, Mayall could add a sinister element that sometimes gets lost in the slapstick gurning. Others may argue that you get what you expect from Rik Mayall. It would be interesting to see what someone else could do with this script.

Ultimately though this is British satire at its most vicious. It doesn't shy away from any targets and largely the jokes punch home. B'stards depravity works well and the woman next to me was shouting "No!" in disbelief as Mayall's character sank lower and lower.

Mayall gave a fine loose performance and wasn't afraid to ad lib. My favourite was at the end. The American's are bombing the BBC and a stray bomb is supposed to bring part of the set crashing down. Things didn't go quite to plan and Mayall says "Think of a clever line……Oh Bloody Hell!" 

Expect strong language and extreme bad taste. Then thank your lucky stars you live in a free state where such delicious anarchy is allowed.