PERFORMANCE & COMEDY

Bristol Old Vic Studio (Thur 26 Jan-Sat 4 Feb)

THEATRE And so Tristan Sturrock (‘Far Away’, ‘Treasure Island’, ‘Coram Boy’ and numerous outings for Kneehigh) revisits his autobiographical solo show about how he got drunk on the night before Padstow’s May Day celebrations and broke his neck by falling off a wall. A reworking of last year’s ‘Frankenspine’, ‘Mayday Mayday’ doesn’t initially seem to be hugely different from its four-starred predecessor. It still begins with some quick, amiable gags about preparing to go on stage, and Sturrock’s ability to engage with an audience openly and directly is still very much in evidence from the off (this time, rather tellingly, he performs without a white make-up mask). It soon becomes apparent, though, that this is a more finely honed version of the tale, and if ‘Frankenspine’ seemed a little over-crowded with ideas, ‘Mayday Mayday’ focuses much more clearly on the emotional and psychological impact the accident had on Sturrock himself – and, as a result, on the emotional and psychological impact of the show.

Here, then, we still get the appalling stillness of the moments after the accident, the perky banter of the paramedic, the repetitive hospital routines, the difficult choice of whether to risk a delicate operation or be immobilised by a halo brace for 18 months, and the comically operatic performance of the operation itself. But Sturrock no longer weaves elements of Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ into his own story – realising, perhaps, that what happened to him is dramatic enough in its own right, without the need for any baroque trimmings – and what we get instead is an even more disarmingly honest piece of theatre which celebrates human resilience whilst at the same time poignantly reminding us of the frailty of existence. (Eric Blair)

Copyright Eric Blair 2012; pics copyright Paul Blakemore 2012