CityLife

Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis

The production runs until July 11

THIS seriously quirky farcical comedy had its premiere at Bolton Octagon a decade ago and was one of the shows that helped save the theatre from a threatened Arts Council closure.

It got rave reviews, standing ovations and M.E.N. Theatre Awards – including one for author Charlotte Jones - but despite a couple of regional revivals and much talk of a West End run, it has never quite hit the big time since. Why remains a mystery.

Martha (a terrific performance from Becky Hindley) is a passionately religious Irish cleaner with obsessive compulsive disorder, riddled with insecurities and rituals and completely in the dark about what is happening under her very nose.

Josie (Sarah Parks) is a professional dominatrix who, appropriately, heads her eccentric household but is about to retire from her life of whips and fancy dress. Her one remaining client, and friend, is Lionel (Michael Strobel), whose kink is dressing as a maid and getting down on all fours.

Brenda-Marie (Catherine Kinsella) is Josie’s daughter, an adult with a child’s mind, who dreams of the day that she and her dead twin sister will ice-dance to Olympic victory.

Josie is turning 50 and depressed and Lionel is organising a birthday party to cheer her up, a party that is to feature an Elvis impersonator.

Empathetic stranger

Enter Timothy Wong (Nicholas Goh), just about the worst Elvis impersonator in the business but also the empathetic stranger who helps all the above plus a surprise A N Other (Clara Darcy) come to terms with themselves.

It’s very funny, it’s packed with emotion and far more interesting and deeper characters than anyone has a right to expect in a comedy.

There is also a big, genuinely moving, feelgood finish that had last night’s audience cheering.

The cast are all excellent and director Kevin Shaw makes the complexities of a pretty complex piece fall into place with consummate ease.

I liked it a lot, I think you will too.

Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis is at the Oldham Coliseum until Saturday, July 11.