Dennis Herdman as “Dennis (left), Tom Hiddleston as himself (centre), Thom Tuck as “Thom” (right), by Geraint Lewis

Review: The Play What I Wrote at Birmingham Rep

This isn’t a sponsored post.
BrumHour saw The Play What I Wrote at the invite of Birmingham Rep.

For Brum Radio’s Interval Theatre, Dave Massey spoke to Sean Foley and Gary Morecambe (son of Eric) about The Play What I Wrote. Listen below:

By Dave Massey twitter.com/BrumHour

Review: The Play What I Wrote at Birmingham Rep

Written by Hamish McColl and Sean Foley and, of course, Eddie Braben, directed by Sean Foley

Thom (Thom Tuck) has written a play and his comedy partner Dennis (Dennis Herdman), knows that a successful play could mean the end of their comedy duo. Dennis enlists his friend Arthur (Mitesh Soni) to pretend to be a theatre producer and let him put his play on for an audience.

Basing much of their routine on Morecambe and Wise, Thom and Dennis have a lot of homages (!) to pay to the comedy legends and they do so with ease, from daft jokes to clever lines, sight gags to understated humour, there is a broad range of comedy on display here.

Dennis Herdman as “Dennis”(left), Thom Tuck as “Thom” (centre), Tom Hiddleston as himself, by Geraint Lewis

With the first half of just 30 minutes followed by a 20 minute interval and a one hour second half, The Play What I Wrote moves at a superfast pace as it runs through its story and then during the second half a story within a story.

Also, the play within a play of The Play What I Wrote features a guest star at each and every performance. This weekend The Rep was playing host to Tom Hiddleston, yes THAT Tom Hiddleston aka Loki from Marvel’s MCU and The Night Manager. He dons a dress to escape from prison (Like Toad of Toad Hall!) pokes fun at himself and seems to be having a fantastic time. But whilst The Play What I Wrote is about the guest star, it also isn’t. It’s about the two leads their love for Morecambe and Wise and their crazy harmonica obsessed sidekick.

Dennis Herdman as “Dennis (left), Tom Hiddleston as himself (centre), Thom Tuck as “Thom” (right), by Geraint Lewis

Dennis and Thom shine as their fictional namesakes and Mitesh Soni steals every scene he is in. With this small cast comes a chance to build big sets around them and the stage is filled with little rooms, comedy dungeons and of course curtains for curtain calls.

This is a delightful comedy harking back to a different time, with lots to offer on a December night out, its warm and genuine nature left me wanting more. The Play What I Wrote is at Birmingham Rep until 1st January 2022. Book tickets here: birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/the-play-what-i-wrote/

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