|
Theatre Production, October 2nd-5th 2019
Staged at Theatre Severn, Frankwell Quay, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY3 8FT
The summer of 1969 – first man on the moon, Eurovision’s unique four-way tie
and another tie that happened on another show which was also watched by millions
live throughout Europe... In the 1969 series of Jeux Sans Frontières,
Shrewsbury not only became Great Britain’s first winners of an International
Heat since the BBC had entered the fray in 1967, but also went on to win the
Final (albeit tied with the West Germans of Wolfsburg).
On Saturday 5th October 2019, I went up to Shrewsbury to attend a performance
of (so far!) the only theatre production that has, at its centre, my all-time
favourite TV programme. I got talking beforehand with the production’s writer
and director, Chris Eldon Lee, and one of the stars, Sally Tonge. They were
amazed that I had travelled all the way from south London to attend and Chris
gave me a free programme, which was very kind of him.
Now, I really really wanted to enjoy this, especially as they showed such
wonderful clips on the overhead screen, such as the first colour JSF titles. I
had never seen these before as they were before my time (I was all of two
years old when these events took place!). They even managed to find someone
who had shot parts of the domestic heat with amateur cine film - in colour! -
which was very interesting to see, especially as the original video recording
was long ago wiped by the BBC from the archives.
The troupe of actors played
many roles and engaged the audience by occasionally “breaking the fourth wall” and getting
audience participation. They started by being their present selves reminiscing
about the past to a younger relative. What was it like fifty years ago? They
sang many of the slogans heard in adverts and referenced TV shows of the era
such as Thunderbirds, as well as commenting on the impending breakup of
The Beatles and Shrewsbury Town Football Club’s season that year. But never
once did they mention Lulu and her amazing win in Spain that year, which I
found to be odd as The Eurovision Song Contest was really the premier
European show of the time (and still is).
They took us through all the build up to the domestic heat between Shrewsbury
and Chester. Their trouncing of Chester was achieved with one of the biggest
margins in the history of the British Domestic Series: 14-5! However, by this
point I was beginning to question what in the play actually happened in 1969
and what was invention for the sake of the play. For instance, did the Chester team really pee in the Dingle pond? That sounds
unlikely to me given that this sort of behaviour wasn’t known to be common
fifty years ago and would have been very much frowned upon?! And were the
Chester team really all suffering from hangovers from the night before, thus
accounting for their massive defeat?
| |
 |
| |
Dawn Lake gave a brilliant impression of Eddie Waring, right down to his
mannerisms and what he would really say during the various games. The cast
also sang a few songs of the time. Christina Cubbin gave us a really lovely
rendition of Cilla Black’s Something Tells Me Something’s Gonna Happen
Tonight and Ruth Tipton and Patrick Buck (playing Harald the West German boy
who Ruth’s character falls in love with) performed a lovely duet of This Guy’s
in Love With You. Sandie Shaw’s Eurovision winner Puppet on a String
became Puppet in a Swing! They also slipped in some songs from 1980:
Day Trip to Bangor became Day Trip to Blackpool, with suitably
altered
lyrics, and a short refrain at the beginning of the show from
Peter Gabriel’s Games Without Frontiers (the part where Kate Bush sings
the programme’s title, only making it sound like “Sheer son Fronteer!”).
| |
 |
| |
It was stressed that the games played in 1969 could never be done today due to
“elf and safety” and instead there were some hilarious “stunt” puppets to do the work for
them! (Hence the Puppet in a Swing!) But I do wonder what the real
cheerleaders, who looked so lovely and elegant in the black and white pictures,
would think about being played by a troupe of Barbie dolls!!!
There were – predictably – a lot of knowing jokes about Brexit and local
Shropshire / Shrewsbury politics which were very funny. But sometimes it
really felt like I was watching an episode of the outdated wartime comedy 'Allo
'Allo!, what with the lazy stereotypes on show, particularly of the West Germans.
The German teams were definitely the 'baddies' of this production, always the cheats, and sadly
all the clichés were trotted out.
The production was entertaining in parts, the cast acquitted themselves well,
but overall I’m sorry to have to say this: I thought this sort of humour went
out in the 1980s along with the over-tired and discourteous depictions of the
Germans. As I said, I really wanted to love this, but in the end it wasn't as
good as I hoped it would be.
Review by Hazel Ford |
