PERFORMANCE & COMEDY

Theatre Royal, Bath (Mon 21- Sat 26 Nov)

MUSICAL Candy floss and seedy gangsters; fortune tellers and dodgy conmen; pretty girls and naughty boys; temporary escapism and one night stands: the travelling funfair represents a backdrop wrought from a tightly woven tapestry of folkloric allegories and evocative metaphors, resulting in an inspirational gift for producers of musical theatre. Put a former chart-topping 1970s heartthrob who, in recent years, has more than proved his worth as a contemporary West End stage superstar in leading man role, and one would think that a clutch of Olivier Awards are written in the stars. What a missed opportunity it is for all concerned, then, that ‘All the Fun of the Fair’ – a ‘jukebox musical’ written by Jon Conway and starring David Essex – turns out be a distinctly less than thrilling ride on a rather lacklustre carousel.

Having said that, Essex steps up to his role as recently widowed travelling funfair owner Levi with admirably cool aplomb, despite all the clichés thrown at him by one-dimensional ‘troubled’ teenage son Jack, stereotypical Irish fortune teller Rosa (with whom Levi has enjoyed an illicit fling) and dodgy businessman Harvey, who seems to be channelling Ricky Gervais for motivation. Still, what you lose on the roundabouts you sort of gain on the swings, in that the man who’s swoonsome image covered up the wallpaper on so many bedroom walls still cuts it in the handsome, roguish charmer stakes today; the dark, glossy curls may have given way to a grey scull cap, but those gorgeous, puppy dog eyes haven’t lost their twinkle and the distinctively cheeky voice is as strong as it ever was. What a shame, then, that Essex is never given the centre stage role which he so clearly deserves. He doesn’t get to sing any of his classic hits (‘Gonna Make You A Star’, ‘A Winter’s Tale’, ‘Rock On’) on his own, and a flat, listless rendition of ‘Silver Dream Machine’ turns what should be a big, emotional climax into a tragic farce, despite the fact that Jack comes back from the dead (yup, there’s a Romeo and Juliet theme buried somewhere in the tedious plot) to apparently ride his motorbike right out over the theatre’s stalls. If interest levels had remained robust throughout, this would have been a grand finale indeed. As it was, it just looked a bit silly; think, ‘We Will Rock You’ meets ‘Mamma Mia’ by way of a more mundane episode of ‘EastEnders’, and that just about sums it all up. If there’s a vehicle for David Essex to take audiences on a trip down memory lane while garnering acclaim from a whole new generation, this rather rickety dodgem car just isn’t it. (Melissa Blease)

Copyright Melissa Blease 2011