Review of Bert's House at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Bert's House is a true Northampton homegrown production from On The Shore Productions, this piece has been written, cast, produced and opened on stage for a short tour at the beautiful Royal Theatre at the centre of Northampton, and while here for two nights it found a loving local audience to set it off on its adventures.

Bert's House tells the tale of kindly guest house owner Bert and his trials and tribulations within his slightly ramshackle Dunedin Guest House residence in what appears to be an equally ramshackle seaside resort. The house, it seems, is also, a draw for the most quirky of visitors, and equally wacky staff. However, it seems, that a few of both the residents and staff have nefarious reasons for being there.

Bert's House is an extremely quirky affair, floating in a surreal world, which both follows its own paths as well as paying endless tributes to British comedy through the years, including many nods to sitcoms of yesteryear. The script, from standup comedian Lou Chawner, who also stars as Bert, veers from the hysterical to the awkward on many occasions, and while it does have a plot, of sorts, it is, very predictable, so much so that it doesn't even hide any potential twists.

There is also an all too regular habit of it feeling very much a standup work as structurally it is less successful as a play, but more that of a standup routine, come sketch show. If that is what you are expecting, it is great entertainment perhaps, and allows you to forgive the misses in the jokes. Those looking for a straight comedy play might feel slightly short-changed perhaps though. It is extremely funny at times, however, and especially much stronger in the second half as the characters bed down. Without a doubt, there are some genuinely brilliant moments. Bert's ukelele tribute to Emily for instance and bellybutton antics. Be warned though, while this isn't an overly sweary show, there are some extremely rude jokes peppered across the evening.

The cast has a mixture of success. Chawner is likeable as Bert and knows very much his Northampton audience very well, but how this works away from town will depend as he has a mostly unknown audience to play to. Lisa Ronaghan's Emily does feel overplayed for wackiness, with very little shade in her performance. Elsewhere Taresh Solanki suffers dramatically from the weakest character of Michael Robinson, who, when hen-pecked by his wife, is given rather a lot of simply excruciating material to perform. As his wife, Mrs Robinson however, Gemma Boaden very quickly improves into the second act from a very rocky first impression.

The strongest performances, and indeed characters are, however, the simply brilliant Mr Stevens, played by Scott Bradley. It's a magical character responsible for the bulk of the humour in the show whenever he appears in a variety of garish, nightmare-inducing costumes and situations. Finally, there is a superb, centred performance from Isla Fleury as Jane, without question the strongest in the show, getting the balance of making her character comic but totally believable. Excellent!

Bert's House is directed with pace by Dan McGarry, allowing us to get away from those moments that miss the mark as quickly as possible and it has to be said that the set from Deborah Mingham, while, very simple, is actually rather delightful and fits the show extremely well.

Summing up, Bert's House is a success, but, there is at times a little too much rough material, and does have a feeling that it isn't quite finished. Perhaps, the whole thing will gel as it progresses through its tour, and I really hope, as a truly bold effort to get a show like this on stage, coupled with touring, it gets the success it deserves.

Slightly rough around the edges, but Bert's House still has much to offer.
⭐⭐⭐

Performance reviewed: Friday 1st April 2024 at the Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton.

Bert's House was performed at Royal & Derngate on Thursday 29th February and Friday 1st March 2024 only but is on tour.

Tour details can be found at https://linktr.ee/ontheshore

For further details about the Royal & Derngate and to book tickets see their website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk

Photos: Rebecca Cockcroft

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