THE new season at the Market Theatre got off to an early and unusual start when LADS (Ledbury Amateur Dramatic Society) broke new ground with this satirical revue.
The tongue-in-cheek title set the tone for this irreverent and very funny examination of many of the quirks - and, let's be frank, lunacy - of modern British life.
Their incisive eye roamed far and wide and its wickedly accurate observation brought hoots of recognition and laughter from a delighted audience. Sketches, monologues and even an hilariously anarchic Morris-dance zipped slickly by as pop songs, Big Brother, global warming, the EEC ("Why can't foreigners be like us?"), fox hunting, politics, the National Health, an obsessive fund-raising vicar, the battle of the sexes and many others came under the microscope.
While inevitably not all the items were equally successful, the show was studded with enough gems to send the entire audience out buzzing and beaming.
Everyone will have left with their own favourites, and certainly for this reviewer Tony Blair's farewell lecture tour (set to go on ad infinitum), the nerd's guide to crop circles, a `newly discovered' Dylan Thomas short story ("Oh Dai, Dai, I don;'t want to die, Dai") and that disintegrating Morris-dance will linger in the memory for a very long time. All the material was original and credit should be given to producer and writer Phil Franklin and his very strong cast of David Stone, Mark Llewellin, Mike Epps, Jane Amherst, Janie Eaton and Hetty Guilding for a brave new venture which surely must now become a regular feature at Market Theatre.
ERIC PRINGLE
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