Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge – until 25 September 2021
Reviewed by Steph Lott
5*****
As I watched “Charlie and Stan” I remembered how much I used to love Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy films as a child. As an adult last night I realised how skilled these actors were, in a bygone age before films had colour and talking. Watching this production, I felt as if I were seeing Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy brought back to life again once more.
“Charlie and Stan” is a magical seafaring fantasy which imagines the transatlantic voyage of two silent movie icons 110 years ago. It is however based on some real life events. Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel did set sail from Liverpool to New York as part of Fred Karno’s famous musical hall troupe. The show presents this journey through a series of manic, magical slapstick scenes that take place both on and off the ship, both past and present. It’s more a series of short stories strung together than one story and it’s hard to work out what it’s really about, if it is indeed “about” anything. However this does not detract in the slightest from how wonderful this production is. It is a delight to lose oneself in the wordless world Paul Hunter and his company create. They take the audience back in time, to another era; the age of vaudeville and silent movies.
Ioana Curelea’s amazingly versatile set transforms itself over and over. It’s a sea vessel, then backstage at a theatre, then it’s the backdrop to Charlie’s childhood, a Victorian melodrama of terrible parents. As with Chaplin’s film there is tender comedy mixed in with true sadness here. His mother is played by Sara Alexander, who also plays the piano throughout, exactly as it used to be with silent films. There are subtitles too!
The two leads are extraordinary in their roles. Danielle Bird is eerily like Charlie Chaplin. Her expressions, her pauses – the odd rolling gait. Jerone Marsh-Reid is an endearing Stan Laurel, who again captures the small details that makes the audience believe that Stan Laurel has once again come to life. I also really enjoyed the contrast of the gangly Stan Laurel with the pocket sized Charlie Chaplin. Jos Houben has given these two excellent proponents of physical theatre some wonderful routines and moves to play with. Again it was so evocative of those silent films I watched as a child, unaware of the skill that went into those slapstick routines that made me laugh so much before, and still do now.
Mention must also be made of the storming performance given by Nick Haverson. Not only does he play Frank Karno and also Chaplin’s drunken father, he also is a superb drummer and in a gradual reveal, makes Oliver Hardy appear before our eyes.
This is a charming, kind and life-affirming silent movie-style production that harks back to simpler times. I thoroughly recommend you go and see it.