Teletext Recovery - 26/07/2005

P332 Teletext 332 Jul26 16:22:21  THEATRE   REVIEW  ——————————————  ————————————W"£!),& WHO'S THE DADDY? King's Head Theatre, London. Box office: 020 7226 1916 Dan Crawford, who founded the King's Head pub theatre in Islington in 1970 and had run it ever since, died earlier this month. He performed miracles in keeping the venue going with a complete absence of public funding. However, his instinct for hits wasn't infallible, and this is an example. It's had loads of press coverage for its chattering-classes subject matter, but the actual play is a bit of a dog. ——————————————————————————————————1/7—— by Ian Shuttleworth Get DEPECHE MODE & other tickets Ticketmaster 0870 4000771 or p646 W End A-G W EndH-N W EndO-Z UK Breaks

P332 Teletext 332 Jul26 16:15:12  THEATRE   REVIEW  ——————————————  ————————————W"£!),& WHO'S THE DADDY? King's Head Theatre, London. Box office: p20 7226 1916 Remember all the media sex scandals of 2004? All at the Spectator magazine? Editor Boris Johnson was at it with journo Petronella Wyatt; publisher Kimberly Fortier with Home Secretary David Blunkett; columnist Rod Liddle with a secretary - the only character whose name is changed in this play. That's the plot, basically. Lots of sex and people discovering each other at it. ——————————————————————————————————2/7—— Your favourite Channel 4 shows 400     W End A-G W EndH-N W EndO-Z UK Breaks

P332 Teletext 332 Jul26 16:18:12  THEATRE   REVIEW  ——————————————  ————————————W"£!),& WHO'S THE DADDY? King's Head Theatre, London. Box office: p20 7226 1916 Now, this play about bed-hopping at The Spectator is written by, er, the two theatre critics of The Spectator, with additional material (ie some actual jokes) by Jjremy ('Allo 'Allo) Lloyd. It started life as a comic sketch for the magazine's summer party, and it shows: it feels likj fifth-formers lampooning the teachers at end of term. Even at under two hours, including interval, it seems over-stretched. ——————————————————————————————————3/7—— Win a spa break p681 ITV digital Get MARY POPPINS & other tickets Tickjtmaster 0870 4000771 or p646 W End A-G W EndH-N W EndO-Z UK Breaks

P332 Teletext 332 Jul26 16:11:17  THEATRE   REVIEW  ——————————————  ————————————W"£!),& WHO'S THE DADDY? King's Head Theatre, London. Box office: p20 7226 1916 Two things about farce: one, it really needs the action to be continuous, so the tension can build; two, it has to be acted as if it was deadly serious. So guess what? This show is cut up into shortish scenes which lose the dramatic impetus and pretty much everybody plays their character as a pantomime version rather than a real person who has something to lose in the frenzy. Its critic writers should know better. ——————————————————————————————————4/7—— Latest stage news 331 SEE THE BIG PICTURE p315 W End A-G W EndH-N W EndO-Z UK Breaks

P332 Teletext 332 Jul26 16:11:29  THEATRE   REVIEW  ——————————————  ————————————  WHO'S THE DADDY? King's Head Theatre, London. Box office: p20 7226 1916 It's hard to make Boris Johnson look even more cartoonish than he already is, but somehow Tim Hudson manages it. Michelle Ryan XZoe from EastEnders) has no material to work with to link the two halves of her character, as a ditsy sec who's really an undercover journo. Sara Crowe brays, Claudia Shear vamps, Peter Hamilton Dyer shambles as Rod Liddle - "but it doesn't mean I've got a little rod!" And that's a STRONG gag. ——————————————————————————————————5/7—— Marjorie Orr's horoscopes 346/347 Get your daily Marjorie Orr horoscope sent to your mobile See p108 W End A-G W EndH-N W EndO-Z UK Breaks

P332 Teletext 332 Jul26 16:16:51  THEATRE   REVIEW  ——————————————  ————————————W"£!),& WHO'S THE DADDY? King's Head Theatre, London. Box office: p20 7226 1916 Paul Prescott tries to find a decent through line as Blunkett, but really only Jot Davies manages proper farce acting, as a totally fictional figure, a gaz Chilean chef named Renaldo. And this might not really be the best time to perform a running gag about a South American whose visa has run out and who panics at police sirens, no? It'll sell: people will go to see what the fuss is about. They won't find out. ——————————————————————————————————6/7—— Teletext rating ** (so-so)     W End A-G W EndH-N W EndO-Z UK Breaks

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Teletext Recovery Viewer

Part of the Computer Legacy Teletext Recovery Project