Churchill show is pure Havana

History entertains alive on stage

The rollercoaster of the life and times of Sir Winston Churchill modern British history’s comeback king - made for a thrilling night of drama on the Costa Blanca and a fillip for watching live theatre.

In the show ‘Churchill’, actor Pip Utton gives his warts and all look at the great man who inspired a nation through the dark days of World War Two and has been voted the greatest

Briton in history.

There is never a dull moment in the one-man show written by Utton himself - it also served as a reminder there is both excellent talent, original material and life beyond the West End musical theatre show.

At the Jávea Players’ Studio Theatre there were people making their own music, singing along to soundtrack sounds of Vera Lynn and ‘(There’ll be Blue Birds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover’ and another wartime fave ‘We’ll Meet Again’.

The show sets off with some Harry Potter style magic. Big Ben strikes 13 (more bongs than Brexit!) and the 12 statues of Parliament Square come alive. Churchill points out the halfforgotten heroes as they clamber off their plinths - David Lloyd George racing off for a pint and a packet of crisps in the pub - and a grumpy Abraham. Lincoln.

Nelson Mandela, he notes, is the current hero of the square, but the crumbs left by tourists attract feathered fans and there is a cost in droppings. Churchill also note the rather grand column afforded Nelson on the horizon. He admits the Admiral got to defeat the French while he only got to “rescue” our neighbours across the ditch.

In Churchill, the audience is treated to the politician, the orator, the wit, writer, painter and bricklayer. There is also the vanity, the nursery brat and bully. The boy packed off to public school and after Sandhurst emerged as a hero in army service - he took part in the last great cavalry charge - and as a war correspondent...as well as Parliament.

Glass of Johnny Walker Red in hand, Utton also reveals Churchill’s taste for champagne and Cuban cigars. Certainly, Winston must also have been an enthusiastic player of board games like Risk and Diplomacy. He actually admits his big mistake - Gallipoli - and underlines his ‘play to win’ ethos - think of speeches such as ‘never surrender’ and the homage to The Few after the Battle of Britain.

Utton handles it all with aplomb. He serves up history in digestible portions and there is plenty of humour, pathos and drama. It means the show rattles along at an agreeable pace and, thanks to audience participation; no two performances are ever the same.

Incredibly, the actor was versatile enough to bring two different shows to Jávea, three nights as Winston, three as Albert Einstein. He researches a character for about two years and puts together a script at speed; perhaps the secret in an era of stand-up comedy.

The back catalogue includes big characters like Margaret Thatcher, Dickens, Adolf Hitler and Charlie Chaplin - all have made Utton a hero of the Edinburgh fringe and receiving international plaudits and awards.

There was a deserved standing ovation for the actor at the end of the evening and with so much more on offer, calls for Jávea Players to invite him back again - please keep my seat warm.