Chris Sullivan and Shian Denovan
First rehearsal
Here's another review as threatened, I mean, as promised. This time from Chicago Critic dot com.
The 2 Sides Of Eddie Ramone
jMp
Company
Directed
by Chris Sullivan
Jermyn
Street Theatre
16b
Jermyn Street, Piccadilly Circus, Lon SW1Y 6ST
Monday
25th –
Saturday 30th July
7.30pm; Saturday 3.30pm
Running
time 75minutes with no intermission
You’re
Cruisin’, Eddie, Aren’t You?
There’s
a strange frankness about Chris Sullivan’s alter ego, as he takes
his place at the mike to deliver his cruise comedian’s shtick. I
say strange because it soon becomes apparent that what, to his
audience, is an accomplished and entertaining stand-up performance,
has become to him, a hateful nightly purgatory.
In
this day and age, out-of-body experiences have become a staple of
psychiatrists, and are not always the weird and slightly frightening
conditions so popular with horror film makers. What is different
here, is that this is what Eddie finds himself experiencing, without,
perhaps, realising that it is what saves him. It is his defence
mechanism, enabling him to endlessly keep on churning out the same
tired old gags, without blowing his brains out.
This
is the second incarnation of The 2 Sides Of Eddie Ramone that I have
seen. Previously, at its Edinburgh festival outing, it was Eddie on
his own with his demons, and I was moved to write: ‘With flashes of
brilliance, mixing comedy and pathos, and with his original and
bitingly powerful writing, the redoubtable Chris Sullivan’s
performance is his most memorable to date’. He has lost none of
this winning emotional cocktail. This version of the play now
features Shian Denovan, who plays his daughter, in a beautifully
delivered and felt performance.
Whether
this two-hander development is the last version of this piece,
remains to be seen. What is clear, though, is that the story deserves
to go on.
I
look forward to the next time, Chris and Eddie!
Saul
Reichlin
No comments:
Post a Comment