Darlington Hippodrome – until 8 September 2018
3***
Not being a native of the region, I had never heard of Joe Wilson, but in this World Premier of the show about his life – it would seem he had an interesting one. Known as the Bard of Tyneside, in his short life he wrote and performed many songs around the region.
Wisecrack Productions have produced a play within a play with a cast of 4 performing multiple parts including Joe Wilson (Mickey Cochrane), his wife Bella (Sarah Boulter), his twin brother Tom (Jamie Brown) and various other family members and music hall entertainers, helped along with musician Jordan Miller.
The acting and singing were fabulous and this works well as an ensemble piece. Ed Waugh’s writing and Russell Floyds direction have produced a very gentle play about one of the regions hero’s over 150 years after his death.
The audience were all singing along especially to Bonny Sally Wheatley and the most famous Wilson song Keep Your Feet Still Geordie Hinny.
Whilst I enjoyed the story, dealing with both Joe’s life and the socio-economic history of the time I struggled with the lyrics of the songs and could have done with a translation sheet to help me understand Joe’s observations in song form.
If you are a fan of the music and understand the lingo then this could be the show for you. It goes on tour around the region with details to be found at www.wisecrackproductions.co.uk/joewilson