Writer performers The Right Size took the right approach to playing Britain's best loved comedy duo on stage, says Steve Pratt.
WHILE most double acts would dearly love to attain the success of Morecambe and Wise, they wouldn't want to be regarded as mere impersonators of Britain's best-loved comic pair.
Sean Foley and Hamish McColl, collectively known as The Right Size, certainly couldn't see the point of just doing an impression of Eric and Ernie on stage, so they turned down producer David Pugh's offer to do a show about Morecambe and Wise. They consider them the comic holy grail and knew it was impossible to impersonate them.
"If you said to any double act, known or unknown, 'we want you to do a show about Morecambe and Wise', you think that could be the passport to success - and then again, perhaps not," says Foley. "They were the best British double act. We turned it down. We thought everyone would hate us doing them a disservice."
They were probably right in that. Yet Pugh, whose past stage hits include Art and The Official Tribute To The Blues Brothers, wouldn't take no for an answer. He persisted, knowing that The Right Size were different, having seeing the duo's Olivier Award-winning show, Do You Come Here Often?, about two men stuck in a bathroom for 25 years. Eventually, they gave in and The Play What I Wrote isn't so much a tribute as a celebration.
The ingenious thing is that Foley and McColl are Morecambe and Wise but, at the same time, aren't Morecambe and Wise. It's difficult to explain, you need to experience it to understand. The essence of Eric and Ernie is there, without ever resorting to slavish impersonations.
Critical and audience response was good enough to make The Play What I Wrote one of the biggest hits for years in London's West End. As well as breaking box office records, the Kenneth Branagh-directed production had the bonus of a series of guest stars playing themselves in a French Revolution sketch. The guest list wouldn't have disgraced a Morecambe and Wise Christmas show on TV, including Richard Wilson, Ralph Fiennes, Sir Ian McKellen, Jerry Hall, Cilla Black, Charles Dance, David Suchet, Ewan McGregor, Roger Moore and Sting.
Who'll turn up when The Play What I Wrote visits at Newcastle Theatre Royal is a closely-guarded secret. Only a handful of people know. Foley and McColl will definitely be there, along with co-star Toby Jones, whose characters include Hollywood actress Daryl Hannah and David Pugh himself. Even after deciding to write it, Foley admits they didn't know whether it would work "until you run it up the flagpole in terms of an audience".
Having Gary Morecambe, Eric's son, as a consultant was a help. "He's a real authority on their work, so he was a very good touchstone. And it means a lot that the family are behind it," says McColl. They also recruited Eddie Braben, Eric and Ernie's scriptwriter, to provide gags for the show.
The Play What I Wrote was developed in workshops and McColl says they never intended to do impersonations or a bio-play. "We wanted to do a play that celebrated their comic spirit. That was the hard bit because we needed their material. That worried us, doing the material without being them. Sean, particularly, slides into a lot of physical mannerisms and they make a beep for the audience. But nothing is really just lifted from them." They praise director Branagh for the wonderful job he did in marshalling the various elements "into a very tight piece of work". He was certainly helpful in recruiting guest stars, although a decision was made not to involve those famous for appearances in Morecambe and Wise TV shows. "People we've wanted have come along and they all come back, which is great," says McColl. Guests have only two rehearsals and time with the choreographer before being thrown in front of an audience. Foley and McColl tweak the script to suit each guest star. "You meet someone you may admire and is well-known, then within ten minutes of meeting them, we're on stage and taking the mickey. They're always very nervous."
The show is heading for Broadway next year, another challenge as Morecambe and Wise aren't well-known on that side of the Atlantic. "They will not understand everything we're doing," admits McColl. "It's a question of sleight of hand, making every audience we play to comfortable with the premise of the show."
Americans who saw the production over here liked it. "Lots of famous people loved it and said, 'can we do it in New York?'. The typical reaction from them was, 'that was great, but who are Morecambe and Wise?'."
* The Play What I Wrote is at Newcastle Theatre Royal from October 15 to 19. Tickets 0870 905 5060.
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