BEN HUR
What a great way to spend a bank holiday Saturday than to head up to Dyke Road park and one of the greatest assets the city has, Brighton Open Air Theatre. And with the sun beating down in a way that we might have forgotten it could, what a great combination of joy. I say joy because Brighton theatre company Cue Fanfare have a fine reputation for delivering joy. Their productions of The 39 Steps last summer and Brief Encounter the year before secured their place as a company to watch, or go and watch. But when I first read that this season they were tackling Ben Hur I was somewhat surprised, a sword and sandal epic, surely not!
Of course when you see that the play has been penned by National Theatre of Brent genius Patrick Barlow, you can settle back in the knowledge that this is going to be fun, or should I say irreligious fun.
Using three sets of step ladders, a plank and innumerable wigs, and with a company numbering only four this was bound to be a somewhat chaotic romp. And chaos is at the heart of the humour as egomaniac ham Daniel Veil takes to the stage. Due to a medical issue previously billed Jamie Kenna has had to withdraw from the production, but director Patric Kearns has stepped into the breach in every sense. This is a full on full of fun performance of the archetypal actor manager, a pompous buffoon of a man riding high on his assumed but misguided prowess as a thespian. This was Ben Hur in an hilariously un-heroic act of heroism.
Louise Faulkner is Crystal Singer, leading lady taking on all the female roles, most hilariously as the thickly Brummy Virgin Mary but quite often being required in a flurry of wigs to be several characters at the same time, a feat that she delivers with both dexterity and comic timing.
Ben Roddy is Edgar T Chesterfield, a sturdy chap which delightfully adds to his comic presence as Ben Hur’s mother amongst all his other roles, especially the lascivious queer admiral of the Roman fleet or the whip wielding slave driver, a role that had us fearing for Ben Hur’s actual safety.
Last but by no means least we have Harry Hart. Harry has, as the cliche goes, funny bones, but never was a cliche more true. On this occasion wringing the laughs with ease from Messala, Caspar, the Angel Gabriel, captain, slave and in a truly bizarre moment singing The Old Bazaar In Cairo. But his coup is in his hysterically funny rendering of a very laconic Brummy Jesus, drifting on and off stage in a billowing robe as if on wheels.
And wheels we need surely for that iconic chariot race… no spoilers here!
What a brilliant way to declare summer open, and do look out for their next production, the epic farce Noises Off. Now anyone who has seen that will be wondering how it can be done at BOAT, but in the hands of this crew I have little doubt that they can pull it off. One not to miss so book now!
A final word here for Chris Radford and Katrina Kavanagh who dealt with the cacophony of costume, props and all those shocking wigs, and of course to the team of brilliant BOAT volunteers whose kindness and care is second to none.
Andrew Kay
23 May
Brighton Open Air Theatre
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