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Catherine Nix-Collins, Mario Kombou (centre) and William Reay |
Elvis dad snakes his hips to hunkahunka ditties
COOKING WITH ELVIS
Upstairs at the Gatehouse
ON paper, Cooking With Elvis doesn’t sound full of Spring cheer. After all, it’s a play about a family of confused Geordies split by domestic abuse, eating disorders, drink problems and the trauma of a father paralysed and brain damaged from a road accident.
But, hey, we haven’t got onto the Elvis hits yet.
When the chips are down, you can do a lot worse than a hunkahunka bit of Burning Love or a round of Suspicious Minds, and those uplifting songs and more are expertly revived here.
It’s an unusual collage but this is a smart black comedy, full of wry humour about life browsing the cheap cake aisle, pulled off without ever being patronising, predictable or sentimental.
There is certainly more to this than one of those isn’t-life-in-the-north-rubbish-but-we-get-through-it-all-because-we’re-able-to-laugh-at-ourselves dramas.
Mario Kombou, a pro of an Elvis impersonator, is excellent as the Dad in a wheelchair, unable to intervene as his wife invites another man to live in their home.
He doesn’t just shake with convulsions, his musical flashbacks to a past life as a singer also exercise the hips as he leaps from his seat, flips off his goggly sunglasses and hollers Viva Las Vegas.
This isn’t just karaoke stuff and Kombou proves it with some sturdy monologues.
In between the flashes of gold-trimmed jumpsuits, Melanie Dagg and Catherine Nix-Collins (Mam and daughter Jill) bounce off each as they argue over dufus boyfriend Stuart (William Reay). Nix-Collins scrunches her face in a million different directions, while ploughing through a tuck shop of puddings: not a bad feat.
There are moments which push the taste test, a couple of scenes that justify the parental guidance, but don’t be put off.
This is a witty show which somehow melds adversity with celebration and a bit of classic Presley showmanship. You’ll leave the building satisfied.
Until April 19
020 8340 3488 |
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