DISPLAY OF DOWNTONRY
One-man parody grew from love of hit TV series,
Spoiler alert: This story contains a spoiler for Season 4 of Downton Abbey.
There are 36 reasons to see Upside Downton and they’re all named Luke Kempner.
He’s the quicksilver imp who plays 36 characters from the beloved TV series Downton Abbey. You can catch him in the act at the Panasonic Theatre from Wednesday through Oct. 18.
Kempner strings his razor-sharp takes on the British landed gentry and the servants who take care of them into a fast-paced 75-minute parody that goes beyond the grounds of the Abbey. “Chef Gordon Ramsay makes an appearance,” Kempner says with a chuckle. “Even Kim Kardashian makes an appearance, there’s a bit of Dancing With the Stars and we even throw in a whole Jeopardy! parody as well.”
It might sound like a dog’s version of the archetypal British breakfast, but the reviews have been great around the world, with the London Daily Telegraph hailing it as a “remarkable tour de force,” while the Huffington Post acclaimed Kempner as “the Energizer bunny of impressionists.”
No less a judge of fine comic acting than Stephen Fry has pronounced him “a fine impressionist, giving an impressive display of Downtonry.”
Kempner thinks he knows his secret weapon.
“I love Downton Abbey, please believe that. I’m not saying, ‘Look at me making fun of this rubbish.’ I’m saying, ‘Here’s a few things about Downton we can all have some fun with.’ ”
It all began at school, the 28-yearold Kempner recalls “when I’d do impressions of our teachers at the Christmas carol concert. I’d do a 10minute set about all of them preparing for the nativity play, etc.”
That got put aside once Kempner graduated from England’s prestigious Guildford School of Acting and went almost immediately into “two years of work in the West End for Cameron Mackintosh, doing shows like Les Misérables and Avenue Q.”
Although he loved musical theatre, he “had always wanted to get back to the impressions.”
And then his life was changed, just like Justin Bieber’s, by a YouTube posting.
“One of my friends suggested I put some of my impressions on YouTube. The Downton one got retweeted over 2,000 times and it all got started. TV companies messaged me about doing shows. It went wild.
“Then (producer) James Seabright contacted my manager and ‘We’d like to talk to Luke about doing a live show of his Downton impersonations.’
“I didn’t know if I could do it, but I met with James and we put together a wonderful team: (director) Owen Lewis and (script editor) Jeremy Limb. I brought along three hours of material and we started hacking it down to size.”
It opened to sold-out houses and a rapturous reception at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and he’s been touring it around the world since.
Kempner is very selective, however, about what he chooses to spoof and not spoof.
“I don’t do Anna. Because her storyline is very serious. There’s nothing funny about rape. In Downton, there are some storylines you’d best leave alone. But the show is so enormous there’s still plenty to do. Even if you don’t know the plot, I like to think you’ll have a good laugh at the way I do the characters.”
He sums up the work’s widespread appeal.
“People from 8 to 80 come and laugh and enjoy it. A lot of people find it’s like sitting in your living room with a bunch of Downton fans and saying, ‘How much do we love this?’ ”
Upside Downton plays at the Panasonic Theatre, 651 Yonge St., from Wednesday through Oct. 18. Go to mirvish.com or phone 416-872-1212 for tickets and information.
“I’m not saying, ‘Look at me making fun of this rubbish.’ I’m saying, ‘Here’s a few things about Downton we can all have some fun with.’ ” LUKE KEMPNER