The Grand Theatre Leeds – until 13 April 2024
Reviewed by Sal E Marino
4****
BAFTA and EMMY award-winning comedy Drop the Dead Donkey, which was broadcast in the 1990s on Channel 4 has made a comeback but as a stage show. Does it still pack a punch and have the same sharp wit as the original? There was a mixed review going on throughout the play given the number of chuckles coming from the audience that ranged from full-on rip-roaring laughter to some rye smiles. I guess it all depends on if you’re already familiar with the TV series, a newbie or if it’s your kind of humour. My guest and I were newbies but bumped into a couple I know who are avid fans of the show and they were delighted with the performance whereas we were entertained but also a little perplexed by some of the ‘in jokes’. However, we weren’t disappointed and anything that pokes fun at clown-land Westminster and the ‘double-think’ phrases and slogans that have become common place in society today gets a well-deserved smiley face and a LOL from me (which relates to the shows ongoing roll of ‘Tweets’ on a big screen).
Many of the original cast were reunited back to the office news hub room and after greeting each other with a resounding F word you know from then on that there will be nothing but fireworks from the off! We cleverly learn lots about the characters as they each the stage which is useful for a newbie and that knowledge is key to then understand the never-ending snipes and gripes that they hurl at one another throughout the show. It also becomes clear who is who in terms archetypes: lovable and eccentric fool, George (Jeff Rawle), the one with a past and is still living it lover, Dave (Neil Pearson), the dependable and only sensible one, Helen (Ingrid Lacey), the villain, Joy (Susannah Doyle), the newbie and not of the old gang, Rita (Kerena Jagpal), the boss, Gus (Robert Duncan), the ‘wanna be’ cover-girl-queen who never was, Sally Smedley (Victoria Wicks), the maverick reporter who never was, Damien (Stephen Tomkinson) and finally the outcast enemy, Mairead (Julia Hills).
Gus gave me the most laughs as he outlined everything that was wrong with today’s ‘news’ when he explained to his new team how the algorithms work and concluded that nobody believes the news today so does it really matter what they say and if they get it wrong, because if no one believes it, then no one is being deceived. The ‘tweets’ that keep coming up on the screen really do capture the movement of today’s ‘news’ which is that we have become fascinated by the hapless presenters with regards to what they say and how they say it and it is this that has become entertainment and their blunders create the actual news! Sally’s victimhood speeches to the audience and how she shared their feelings and hurt regarding some nonsensical rubbish were stand out jokes for me. The staging was very slick and toilet cubical stickers created lots of laughs.
The cast did a great job at offending everybody so no one can complain that they were left out and excluded. ‘Being out of touch’ kind of did a 360-degree head-turn on the language which causes so many heated debates today – very clever! The jokes are on current and developing situations and this gives it an edge which if some of the characters old back-stories had been taken out would have made the whole production more engaging for me personally but I totally accept that’s unfair to the original fans.
Even though I was new to Drop the Dead Donkey, I still found some of the humour spot on and had a great night out at The Grand which is the most beautiful and welcoming theatre in Yorkshire.