Skip to main content

Review of The Man Called Monkhouse at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Last November I had the eerie experience of seeing Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise resurrected before my eyes in the excellent Eric And Little Ern (review here). The Man Called Monkhouse is an even more scary and uncanny experience, as despite the admittedly superb recreation of Morecambe and Wise, Simon Cartwright truly is as close to the legend that is Bob Monkhouse as you could hope. The mannerisms, the voice, the perfect delivery of the jokes, it is all there. Standing before you at the start of the play finishing of his routine, Monkhouse is alive and well on the stage.

The play itself sits slightly less successfully than the aforementioned Eric And Little Ern, it is a slightly lighter prospect. It does however in its brief run time of roughly an hour provide an insight into the troubled and very much, as used in the play, marmite performer. The play revolves around the time of the well publicised stolen joke books and the twentieth anniversary of the death of his writing partner Denis Goodwin. Our created play involves Monkhouse dealing with a less than enthusiastic police officer as well as trying to write a eulogy for Denis.

So on the nicely designed set by Alex Marker constituting of Monkhouse's study, the play weaves Monkhouses back catalogue of jokes into this collection of events. It works perfectly well, if a little episodically. The best part actually comes later in the play when dealing with his history with the press and his son, "You can always tell when a journalist is lying... their lips move." This period provides an emotional punch like no other part and puts into fine context the cruel nature that sadly our press has.

For me, Bob Monkhouse was one of the greatest and was a staple diet for me growing up in the eighties and The Man Called Monkhouse provided some tingling moments. The hair on my neck literally stood on end when I heard the tune for Bob Says Opportunity Knocks again after so long.


For those split seconds I was ten again and in a very different world. This is indeed the magic of these types of shows, like Eric And Little Ern. Providing fond memories and joy, and perhaps to better times?

The Man Called Monkhouse may be a little light on content in places and is perhaps also too short as you do feel when leaving you wanted more. However it wields a truly exceptional performance from Simon Cartwright and for any fan of Bob is a must see.

My survey says: ««««


Performance viewed: Tuesday 29th September, 2015 at the Royal & Derngate (Royal).

The Man Called Monkhouse is currently on tour, for details of venues can be found at their website at http://monkhouseplay.com/

For further details about the Royal & Derngate visit their website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/


Popular posts from this blog

Review of Murder She Didn't Write at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Murder She Didn't Write , stopping off for a four-day run at Royal & Derngate on a lengthy UK tour, treads the now well-worn path of an improvisational evening of theatre entertainment. Unsurprisingly, from the title, this show from Degrees of Error's takes a murder mystery as its inspiration, with the story influenced by ideas from the audience each evening. Due to this, Murder She Didn't Write and a review are very much an individual affair. What I saw in my evening at the theatre will differ significantly from what the audience will see the following evening; however, the fine performers will remain. The touring cast, in no particular order, is Lizzy Skrzypiec, Rachael Procter-Lane, Peter Baker, Caitlin Campbell, Stephen Clements, Douglas Walker, Harry Allmark, Rosalind Beeson, Sylvia Bishop, Emily Brady, Alice Lamb, Sara Garrard, Peta Maurice and Matthew Whittle. For my performance, Skrzypiec, Procter-Lane, Baker, Walker, Bishop, and Clements were on stage alongsid...

Review of Immune by R&D Youth Theatre at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

The cover note for the script of Oladipo Agboluaje's Immune describes it as "a challenging science fiction play with a large cast", and the word challenging in this case is not a lie. This is a fast paced, multi-cast changing script which leaves little room for error for its young cast in the performance. If the script isn't enough to handle for the young performers, director Christopher Elmer-Gorry and designer Carl Davies have made the situation even more complex for the actors with the set and stage work. Having to manhandle great panels on wheels and a huge cube, which also splits in two occasionally, during scene changes requires skill, coordination and cooperation of a high level. As if all this is not enough, the actual story is epic enough for the relatively small stage of the Royal. Attempting to form an apocalyptic world (albeit only happening in Plymouth) offers challenges in itself, but Agboluaje's script does that in a sort of apocalypse in the teac...

Review of Les Misérables: School Edition (NMTC Youth Society) at the Cripps Hall Theatre, Northampton

From my four years or so of watching theatre in Northampton, there is one thing beyond the huge professional shows that I see touring, that I always enjoy so much more (despite the occasional dodginess of the quality), and that is youth theatre. For me in my heart, it adds something special, here we have the often maligned young of today, getting out there and doing something truly fulfilling. Here though, with the debut of the newly formed Youth Society, spinning off from the adult Northampton Musical Theatre Company, we have something also which goes beyond enthusiasm of the young to create a really special piece of theatre. Les Misérables is in the top three of musicals for me, I love its huge numbers, I connect to its story, and it has some extremely strong characters, for me, it just works. Therefore, you could say that I would have an immediate bias towards this show, however, I do feel protective of it as well, so, it needs to be done right. However, I have nothing to worry...