Feeling your age? Here’s something to sing about
You Can Always Hand Them Back (Mercury Theatre, Colchester)
Verdict: Beautifully autumnal
PETER SKELLERN, songwriter and 1970s vaguely-pop singer, has co-written a lovely song-and-whimsy evening about being a grandparent.
It has had some success in New Zealand and has now washed up at the Mercury in Colchester almost until the end of the month. I would be surprised if it did not soon find other venues in Britain.
Mr Skellern, who is perhaps best known for his song You’re A Lady, was Down Under, visiting his son and his family after they emigrated there. He was introduced to British emigre playwright roger Hall, who had a West End hit in 1979 with Middle Aged Spread.
the two men got talking about being grandparents. this delightful, gentle show is the result.
there are just two actors, and one pianist (Stefan Bednarczyk), who plays and often helps to sing 12 Skellern songs.
the actors are Kate Dyson and Paul Greenwood, who play grandparent couple Kath and Maurice. We are shown photographs — projected on to the back wall — of their children and grandchildren. One of the grandsons is a ‘wuss’. the daughter-in-law is a bit of a tartar.
the grandchildren are not taught to say ‘thank you’. they are fussy and spend too much time looking at their mobile telephones. the Colchester audience, about 90 per cent of whom seemed to be grandparents, were soon chuckling away in recognition.
A joke about Alzheimer’s received an unexpected laugh. they loved a couple of moments when Grandpa, frustrated by some constraint on his normal routine of watching golf and drinking gin, let rip with a naughty word.
Despite this, it was a surprise to see a warning at the door of bad language in the show. Compared to most modern productions, this one is as cleanly-spoken as the Book of Isaiah.
Mr Greenwood and Miss Dyson are well-matched. It is easy to accept them as doting, slightly dotty grandparents.
He, at Monday’s last preview, was not quite on top of his lines, but made neat little jokes about his memory going — before he wandered off-stage to be given a cue by the stage manager. the audience did not seem to mind this in the slightest.
there is a song about old men’s incontinence (the twice A Night tinkle tango) and a duet about hearing loss ( My Hearing Is Absolutely Fine). Maurice rides down a stair lift during one solo.
Mr Skellern’s flair for lyrics and a lightly affectionate song have not withered. the chores of grandparental baby- sitting are well caught.
the grandchildren age as bewilderingly fast as the grandparents fall to pieces. Maurice and Kate have to move into sheltered accommodation. You will need to be a bit of a brute not to feel your eyes welling a couple of times.
Cherish the grandparental years while you can, this show says. I found it wonderfully moving — a gem of an evening for anyone with a family and a heart.