Review: Up’n’Under, Hull Truck Theatre, Hull, until October 31 (From York Press)

Review: Up’n’Under, Hull Truck Theatre, Hull, until October 31

9:46am Tuesday 20th October 2009

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JOHN Godber, a miner’s son from the rugby league heartlands, originally wrote his first commission for Hull Truck, Up’n’Under, partly to impress his mates.

Later he beefed up his already physical comedy for its 20th anniversary, rewriting the broad dialogue and switching old lines to different characters. Now, he has revisited his durable tale of blood, sweat and beers for its silver jubilee, updating cultural references and juicing up the industrial language.

Above all, Godber has capitalised on the eye-catching casting of erstwhile naughty nurse turned lads’ mag totty and now award-winning actress Abi Titmuss (whose hot-off-the-presses 2010 calendar – “My Sexiest Ever Pictures!” – greets theatregoers from behind a glass case on arrival).

Unlike Samantha Janus in the 1998 film version’s extraneous shower scene, Titmuss very much keeps the (rugby) kit on. The enhancements to the role of intense fitness instructor Hazel are far deeper than cosmetic: Hazel has been given a much fuller back story involving her father’s premature death, and she is the 2009 remix’s most serious character despite Titmuss’s naturally bonny disposition.

Ever easy on the eye, Titmuss is no stranger to physical exertion on stage after her pole-dancing exploits in The Naked Truth earlier this year, and she handles those demands well again, while successfully knitting together both the play and the players. Sometimes, however, her voice needs a little more power and a slower delivery in the Shakespeare-parodying soliloquies.

Around her, Godber has assembled a handful of familiar faces on the team sheet for his Rocky-style story of former Wakefield Trinity loose cannon and decorator Arthur (William Ilkley) foolishly betting dodgy business hardman Reg that he can train the hapless Wheatsheaf Arms sevens side to beat Castleford’s impregnable Cobblers Arms.

Pathos comes from Ilkley, the ever-reliable Robert Angell as perennially prickly teacher Phil and Eamonn Fleming as the hang-dog butcher Frank (the role Angell played five years ago). Meanwhile, TV celebrities James Crossley (former Gladiator Hunter) and Lewis Linford (Emmerdale’s Lee Naylor) provide the beefcake factor as fireman Tony (Crossley’s role in 2004 too) and jack-the-lad mechanic Steve.

The first half lacks impetus, belly laughs and teamwork but this up’n’down Up’n’Under improves greatly in time for the theatrical wizardry of the cast of six miraculously playing both teams in the climactic bruising clash.

Up’n’Under, Hull Truck Theatre, Hull, until October 31. Box office: 01482 323638

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