REVIEW: The Play What I Wrote
By Gary Murray
Morecambe and Wise were possibly the best-loved comedy double act that the UK has ever produced.
Their influence can still be seen today through presenters Ant & Dec and comedians Lee Mack, and Reeves and Mortimer.
In the 1970s, their Saturday night TV shows were essential viewing on the BBC. Their 1977 Christmas show was seen by a staggering 28 million viewers – the most watched comedy programme in British television history.
Celebrities of the day clamoured to be on the show. The finale would be a historical play, purportedly written by Ernie Wise, starring a famous figure: Peter Cushing, Glenda Jackson and Vanessa Redgrave were among those who featured.
His proud boast was: "The play what I wrote“.
Wisely (no pun intended), The Play What I Wrote does not attempt to impersonate Eric and Ernie. Instead writers Hamish McColl and Sean Foley, incorporating material from original Morecambe and Wise scriptwriter Eddie Braben, give us a play about a double-act which invokes the spirit of Eric and Ernie by performing the play within a play.
Running through it is our affection for and our memories of Morecambe and Wise: when you think of them you smile, and the smile becomes a laugh.
Dan (Daniel Crowder) and Ben (Ben Roddy) are a double act purportedly booked by “leading theatre impresario” David Pugh (Marc Pickering) to do a West End show.
Dan assumes it is to stage his new play set in the French Revolution, A Tight Squeeze for the Scarlet Pimple. Ben knows that it’s going to be a Morecambe and Wise tribute.
Do you need to know the Morecambe and Wise references? Well, if you get the references it makes it richer. But the good news is you don’t have to, because the play and the production are funny anyway.
Joined by a mystery guest (one of four who were announced ahead of the run) Ben, Dan and their friend Arthur give us The Scarlet Pimple in all its glory.
There’s a wealth of themes, not least a poignant one about the nature of double-acts. But running through it is our affection for and our memories of Morecambe and Wise: when you think of them you smile, and the smile becomes a laugh.
It’s ably played by a cast who can handle it all superbly. Not only Ben Roddy and Daniel Crowder, but Marc Pickering as their friend Arthur (“not now Arthur”) is fantastic as theatre impresario David Pugh, as Margot Robbie and various characters throughout.
"What do you think of it so far?"
Not “Rubbish!” that’s for sure!
:: The Play What I Wrote runs at the Devonshire Park Theatre until 30 August. Tickets here.
:: The reviewer’s ticket was supplied by Eastbourne Theatres
