Andrew Schofield
stars in On Tour the tale of a Scouser, a Manc and football
at the Liverpool Everyman.
There was
a Scouser, a Manc and a Cockey, all stuck somewhere in
Scandinavia – but it’s no joke, although there
is a lot of funny business going on in this deadly serious
thriller. Because the trouble with imagining you are a
big fish in a small pond is that unless you really are
as cold-blooded and vicious as a shark, you end up all
at sea.
H and Daz are
having to share a cell, though the former, in a mesmerising
performance from Jeff Hordley, is a wide boy so broad,
it’s a wonder there’s room for anybody else.
The original wheeler-dealer, if he can’t do it or
get it, he knows the man who could, and with H’s
gift of the gab, he’s the epitome of a little learning
being very dangerous, compared to the thick, brutal ex
Commando, Daz; Paul Anderson makes a lovely job of appearing
whiter than white. Still, maybe the two of them can do
business together. Once released, H is meant to be helping
out his old mate, but looks like he’s best at laying
plans to help himself.
In a cleverly
conceived set, the grim cell is transformed, with a nice
bit of choreography from the actors, into a luxurious
hotel room, where things rapidly unravel when they meet
up with the third man, Ray, who is a total nervous wreck.
Played by Andrew Schofield, as usual, he just puts in
an appearance to have the audience in the palm of his
hand. A master of metamorphosis who knows the value of
stillness, he can raise a laugh with one look or gesture
or word.
The rapid fire
dialogue hooks from start to finish, other than the rather
girly discussion about labels, though comical considering
the protagonists’ complete lack of style. Bluff,
counter bluff and more double crossing than a series of
Kirkby kisses, and OK, the twist in the plot involves
a deux ex machina both transparent and fragile. Luck,
fate… Life imitating Art, and vice versa; the same
exploitation, chaos and Rent-A-Mob is what’s rising
right now across the Channel. There are always dilemmas,
as Daz expounds in the oddest summing up ever of ‘Hamlet’.
And not always easy solutions.
The question
to be addressed is: did this thriller prove an excellent
evening’s entertainment? The audience definitely
thought so, and it was good to see the theatre packed
out on a cold, wet Monday night.
Carole
Baldock
BBC
Liverpool - 9th November 2005
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