Silver & Gould
Camilla Knight – Express & Echo
A STRONG start sees Midge Mullin as Melvyn Gould comically recounting a dream he just had about appearing on popular 80s television programme Bullseye. Dream becomes reality and the laughs continue throughout the piece with some excellent one-liners. It is a cleverly created show using a multitude of storytelling techniques focusing predominately on performance other than special effects.
Melvyn is ultimately a kind soul. His cousin Leonard Silver played by Nathan Simpson is not so kind hearted with a mean streak. They are reunited after the sudden death of Len’s mother and both attend the reading of the will.
During a game of darts at the wake, Melvyn’s skill shines through and the two men plan to go on Bullseye. The cousins achieve their goal culminating in a hilarious slow motion finale wherein Melvyn scores the required number, winning the famous speedboat prize.
Midge and Nathan work well together, creating some wonderfully comic moments with excellent physicality and great accents.
Minimalist set with a small screen and multi-purpose box / chest lent to smooth scene changes, mostly signified by Tracey Norman as Leggy McGee in a sparkly gold dress, holding signs up stating where the action was taking place. Signage was not used with each scene change – instead there were blackouts, sound effects or the characters stating where they were. I feel it would have worked better with a consistent method.
Tracey’s character initially appears to have been a little sexist in the writing and casting of, although is reminiscent of the 80s era and presumably intended as a light-hearted gender / character stereotype. I was pleased to see that Tracey had some lines towards the end of the play, as well as providing pivotal support in the form of glamorous stage hand.
Lasting just over an hour the piece showcases some great ideas and comical moments with a few superb one-liners, however it needed to be punchier with a stronger narrative to hold audience focus, instead of digressing into unnecessary storylines, which seemed to bear no relevance to the main plot. That said the pair had the audience laughing out loud more than once and it was an evening well spent.
The show is well worth a watch, especially if you are a fan of nostalgic comedy mirroring such programmes as Only Fools and Horses.
*** 3 stars
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