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Show: End of the Pier
Society: Park Theatre (professional)
Venue: Park200, Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, London N4 3JP
Credits: By Danny Robins. World Premiere, produced by Park Theatre
Type: Sardines
Performance Date: 11/07/2018
End of the Pier
Jess Pether | 16 Jul 2018 23:40pm
Above: Les Dennis & Blake Harrison (l-r) in End of the Pier at Park Theatre. Photo by Simon Annand
“Welcome to hell.”
The closing line of dialogue reverberates around the auditorium.
The short description I read online of End Of The Pier, a play by Danny Robins, didn’t convey to me exactly what I was going to watch on this muggy Monday evening. Roughly, I knew I’d see Les Dennis playing a washed up old comedian who is visited by a younger comedian (Blake Harrison), because the latter needs help to save his career. So, a play about comedy I thought. And it was, but on a far deeper level than I’d anticipated.
The play opens with a dressing gown-clad Bobby (Dennis) putting mustard on a ham sandwich and promptly wiping the knife on his robe. Nice. Without speaking, he sits in front of the TV and flicks a few channels until he finds what he’s looking for. On runs a grinning Michael (played by Harrison, who very quickly made me forget that I knew him best for playing dumb-but-loveable Neil in The Inbetweeners), and he proceeds to reel off family-friendly, predictable jokes about how men can’t put on duvet covers or how people who offer you tea but have run out of milk are the worst. So far, so safe.
In fact, most of the first half was fairly safe. This isn’t a negative comment, but in act one, the scene was being nicely set via great dialogue, engaging acting and a story that was slowly unfolding. You find out that Bobby’s career ended all because of one joke, but we are left wondering for quite a while what this might be. If you’ve read my reviews before, you’ll know my usual preference is musical theatre, so it takes a strong play to keep me interested and I never once wondered what the time was or when the first half was going to end.
I’ve seen Les Dennis play a version of himself on comedy TV show Extras, but know him best for his 15 year stint hosting game show Family Fortunes. So when I saw he was in this play, I did wonder what kind of performance I’d get. There were a few tripped lines, but to give him credit, he had a LOT of them, so a few slips can be forgiven, and he covered them well. I would say it took a short amount of time for him to warm up completely, but once the sh*t hit the fan, and the real grit and anger of the character came out, he really impressed.
I was also impressed with Tala Gouveia, who plays Michael’s fiancée Jenna. From her entrance, she was almost mesmerising to watch and I loved her physicality and her boldness; she was very natural in the part.
As the play gets darker in act two, both Dennis and Harrison continue to absolutely commit to their parts and deliver their lines with real conviction. Harrison becomes a figure of absolute hate and disgust as the plot twists and unfolds and you realise that the story you thought you were watching is not what you’re actually watching at all. Suddenly, stand up comedy, family issues and deep, deep racism become tightly wound together in a messy ball, until you are gasping and shaking your head. Harrison’s performance was gripping to watch and truly shows a breadth of talent I didn’t expect to see.
And just when it’s all getting pretty harrowing, in swoops Nitin Ganatra to steal the show. Playing Bangladeshi immigrant Mohammed, his character provides the twist (or twists) in the tale (and some light relief too), and although much of his time on stage made for uncomfortable viewing, isn’t that really why we laugh at most jokes? His comic timing was superb, and he was the icing on the cake to what was an exceptionally enjoyable play. It not only entertained the audience but challeneged us to think about ourselves, our own prejudices and about the person we show to the world verses who we really are. It was a stark reminder that in the age of ISIS, Trump, social media and so many other forms of “hate”, there is possibly anger in all of us, and sometimes we need to decide where our heart really lies.
There is so much more to the plot of End of the Pier but I don’t want to give it away as it was so much more enjoyable for me to discover it as I sat and watched. The Park Theatre is a lovely space, although my seat in the upper row of the circle was almost like watching from a roller coaster; no leg room, resting your feet on a metal bar, a hand rail in front of you and sharing a fold down seat with the person next to you. Don’t sit here if you need space or easy access to your bag! Having said that, I forgot any seat worries as I was so engrossed in the play.
Although I cringe as I write this, I just can’t resist. “End Of The Pier… Our survey says… bloody brilliant.”
Below: Nitin Ganatra in End of the Pier at Park Theatre. Photo by Simon Annand
- : admin
- : 11/07/2018