Three Men In A Boat, from the left, Jonathan Race (Harris), John Sackville (Jerome) and Drew Mulligan (George). Picture courtesy: Louise Buckby
IN a fog of Victorian pipe smoke, Jerome (John Sackville) and his accident-prone friend Harris (Jonathan Race) and City slacker George (Drew Mulligan) are slumped in their armchairs. What they need is rest and a complete change: a trip up the Thames.
Rather than heading straight off to the river, writer-director Paul Burbridge lets Alan Francis reveal his physical clowning skills in a picture-hanging slapstick sequence best left to pantomime. Wrong decision: we want to see the chaps in the wet stuff as soon as possible to maximise the comic potential in designer Sean Cavanagh's wheeled boat and props on pulleys on a painted water surface beneath cut-out clouds.
Timing is so important in comedy, and this sun-dappled production of Jerome K Jerome's riparian misadventures is both early and late.
Early because summer, not spring, is the time for candy-striped blazers, and so Three Men In A Boat would have better suited the Henley Royal Regatta season, when evenings and spirits are lighter. York on a chill night is not conducive to indulging the antics of young fogeys as they mess about on a river, tell daft stories and sing Gilbert and Sullivan as lustily as Ben Cross's Harold Abrahams in Chariots Of Fire.
As for late, Burbridge's strolling adaptation settled comfortably upon the comic waters when first making a splash in 1990-1991, but since then, North Country Theatre, Patrick Barlow, Kneehigh and The Mighty Boosh have taken this DIY style of storytelling to a new theatrical plane. This revival, in a co-production between Burbridge's Riding Lights and York Theatre Royal, feels dated rather than timeless.
When interviewed, the writer-director acknowledged the modern taste for more punchy, quicker comedy, but therein lies the dilemma for a story rooted in "disporting ourselves at a leisurely pace".
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Your reviewer would argue that this "leisurely pace" could still be sustained with a shorter running time - a fault shared by Burbridge's first collaboration last year in African Snow - and far fewer songs and a more direct route to the comic setpieces. For too long there are no men in a boat, then only two, and rather too late, all three.
The leads and the handful of supporting caricatures perform with pluck, and the means of conveying motion without the boat moving are mildly amusing, but the storytelling is deadened by excessive detail and over-elaboration.
Three Men In A Boat, York Theatre Royal, until April 26. Box office: 01904 623568.
Posted by: robin hill, york on 7:28pm Mon 14 Apr 08
Obviously your reviewer has a personal dislike for the director and was unable to 'enjoy' the production like the rest of the audience!( we visited the show on two evenings and the audience enjoyed the show totally ) I would humbly suggest that perhaps he takes up writing and directing as he is so talented that he can criticise all others!!
Obviously your reviewer has a personal dislike for the director and was unable to 'enjoy' the production like the rest of the audience!( we visited the show on two evenings and the audience enjoyed the show totally ) I would humbly suggest that perhaps he takes up writing and directing as he is so talented that he can criticise all others!!
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