Oxford Playhouse, Mon March 26th - Sat March 31st 2007

I saw the same performance as Mr Carson; I'd echo at least part of his concerns about the play; the corpsing of Maureen Lipman was quite funny, but then I read an interview with her in the Oxford Times, which seems to suggest it happens quite often. Which makes you wonder what is going on.

My friend remarked the northern accents weren't very consistent or believable; and yes, the OCD did get forgotten at times.

My biggest problem with it was the graphic revelation of the disappeared daughter, Shelly Louise, of why she left; it wasn't in the least bit feelgood or entirely congruent with the rest of the light-hearted way difficult issues were being dealt with. Not suitable for teens in my opinion.

If you've got a ticket, you will have an interesting and entertaining evening; if you don't, I wouldn't rush to see this one. It has its moments but the whole is less than the sum of its parts.

RL 27 Mar 2007

The strong casting of this play with ever popular Maureen Lipman in the role of Martha, has ensured that this semi farce is well worth a visit to the Playhouse between Monday 26th and Saturday 31st March 2007.

The play is set in the living room of a dominatrix’s home in Bolton. It was at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton that the play was first performed. Lesley Dunlop plays the part of the dominatrix, Josie, whose birthday it is. One of her clients is Lionel, who likes to cross dress as well as be punished. Josie has a daughter Brenda Marie who is backward and who dreams of being an ice skating champion, while at the same time mourning the loss of her supposedly dead twin sister, Shelly Louise. Josie also has what many would regard as the perfect cleaning lady, Martha, who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder. She is obsessive about cleaning and also about doing things in fives. Maureen Lipman certainly lives up to her reputation as an excellent comic actress with her convincing Irish accent, as well as her character’s religious zealotry, and total ignorance of Josie’s profession.

Lionel, played by Derek Hutchinson, arranges a party at the house for the evening, to which is invited Martha and also an Elvis impersonator, as Josie and Martha are Elvis fans. Mr Wong, the Elvis look-a-like, makes a dramatic entry, just before the even more dramatic arrival of an unexpected guest, who throws the whole evening into disarray.

The Chinese Elvis, who has a very impressive pelvis action when dancing, acts as a catalyst for the solution of many of the family’s problems. Paul Courtney Hyu is ideally cast in the part of this Northern young man just trying to earn a living as Elvis.

Many of the lines are witty and certainly had the audience laughing a great deal. In fact, in the case of the apparently mentally handicapped Brenda, we felt that the dialogue was really too articulate. Michelle Tate did well to pass off this anomaly.

The ending is surreal and partly predictable, but enjoyable. The lively tango between Lionel and Martha is unforgettable. If you want an evening of rather over the top comedy, albeit with a thread of personal and family problems being worked out, this play is to be recommended.

Arthur 26 Mar 2007

Having loved Charlotte Jones' play Humble Boy, I went along to Martha, Josie and The Chinese Elvis with a great deal of enthusiasm. Sadly I was bitterly disappointed, and, in my opinion, it's not even close to being in the same league.

The plot is bizarre. Basically it's as follows: dominatrix Josie (Lesley Dunlop) lives with her brain-damaged daughter, Brenda-Marie (Michelle Tait), while their obsessive compulsive cleaner Martha (Maureen Lipman) scurries around, doing everything in fives, burbling in a ropey Irish brogue and being completely unaware of the "services" Josie offers. The play takes place on Josie's 50th birthday and one of Josie's clients, Lionel (Derek Hutchinson) arrives and changes into a "maid" outfit, before announcing that he is holding a birthday party for her that evening, with a surprise guest... That evening they all gather and the mystery guest - a Chinese Elvis impersonator (Paul Courtenay Hyu) - turns up and attempts to entertain the guests. His attempt is over-shadowed by the arrival of Josie's other daughter - the prodigal Shelly-Louise (Emily Aston).

That's the first act. The second act is basically the actors bickering amongst themselves while "Elvis" dishes out bits of wisdom, looks bemused and comes out of the closet. Eventually everything is resolved and they all live happily ever after.

I really didn't like it. At one point early in the second act Shelly-Louise makes a comment about "style over substance" and I think that pretty much hit the nail on the head. I like plays which amuse but also give you something to think about, which this play doesn't do (with the possible exception of the brief scene when Shelly-Louise revealed why she left in the first place).

Regrettably I thought Maureen Lipman was the biggest disappointment. She's a fine actress who has done much good work on stage and screen, but I don't think this performance can really be called a success. Her obsessive compulsive behaviour, which materialised when she was under pressure, quickly became irritating and wasn't applied consistently - on at least two occasions she went through a door without going through the rigmarole she'd made a big thing of emphasising earlier in the play. She also completely lost it at one point, having to leave the stage in fits of giggles. I think that a lot of the audience went along to see her as the "big name attraction", but I don't think she particularly covered herself in glory. It also irritates me in shows with a "star" that they always take their bow last, even if they didn't have the biggest or most significant role. They should be a part of a company and take their bows with the rest of the cast.

The other major problem was that, quite a lot of the time, I couldn't hear. I was only in the seventh row of the stalls. I would be surprised if anyone at the back of the circle could hear a thing.

It's a shame because I think that this play could have been really good if it hadn't targetted itself at cheap laughs. There was enough material to make a really powerful, hard-hitting and thought-provoking piece of theatre, with the use of Chinese Elvis as a bit of light relief.

If you're wondering whether to go or not, I really wouldn't waste your money. There's better theatre in the towns and villages around Oxford, and it won't cost you as much.

Andrew Carson 26 Mar 2007

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