THEATRE
REVIEW: ‘Vulcan 7’
(Richmond Theatre)
Gary Savage (Adrian
Edmondson) and Hugh Delavois (Nigel Planer) were students at RADA
together. Now in their sixties, they meet in an Icelandic wasteland,
on the set of a fantasy movie. Hugh has had a plodding career but has
landed the role of Vulcan’s butler - a small but regular role - and
he's making his seventh film for the franchise. Gary is a one-time
Hollywood A-lister who has fallen on lean times, and is playing a
guest monster with four hours in make-up, a generic character name,
and one word in the script.
Sparks fly inside
the trailer as old wounds are opened. Leela (Lois Chimimba), a
runner, attempts to keep the peace between them, but outside the
trailer things are not going to plan either: the director’s gone
AWOL, the catering truck’s on the wrong side of a ravine, and the
volcanic activity is growing more and more lively by the minute…
Starring and
scripted by ‘Young Ones’ (now ‘Old Ones’), Edmondson &
Planer, this play was right up my street, and seemingly drew on
Edmondson’s experiences on ‘The Last Jedi’ (which also provided
the inspiration for a very funny call-sheet prepared by him in the
programme). I saw it on its opening night at Richmond having been
touring for a few weeks, and in the row in front of me were Jennifer
Saunders and Ben Elton. The action was all in Delavois’ trailer,
which was on hydraulics to indicate the volcanic activity. Very funny
dialogue between the two of them, with Planer as the ‘straight man’
to the anarchic Edmondson, who got all the best jokes and physical
comedy. As the third member of the cast, Chimimba (soon to be seen in
Series 11 of ‘Doctor Who’), found herself having to keep order
between the arguing thespians, as the comedy slowly became a tragedy.
Highly recommended !
‘Vulcan 7’ is
at the Richmond Theatre until 27th October
2018, then tours to the Malvern
Festival Theatre (29th
October-3rd
November 2018) and the King’s Theatre Edinburgh (5th-10th
November 2018).
Links: Interview
with Ade Edmondson (Radio 2, 16/09/2018)
