CityLife

Wife of Brian

FLUFFED lines and technical gaffs can almost be forgiven on opening night, if, of course, the rest of the production is stellar.

Unfortunately, TSL’s Wife of Brian was less than sparkling.

Recently redundant Brian, patriarch of the Jones household, forces wife Sheila to fire their brusque northern maid Cher.

Goaded by ‘Debbie from next door’ who hires Cher for herself, Sheila decides to outdo the neighbours by hiring hunky Spanish gardener, Juan.

What follows is a slapstick comedy of errors that sadly loses momentum once playwright/performer, Sally Lawton (Cher) is absent from the action.

Off-beat comic timing

The cringe-worthy sexual innuendos between menopausal Sheila and Juan are awkwardly amusing at best and the painfully off-beat comic timing from Brian only serves to highlight Cher’s wonderfully litotic wit.

Though the script is cleverly dated with references to '80s pop culture such as Sons & Daughters and C&A, numerous anachronisms spoil the overall mise-en-scene.

At one point, Cher whips out a digital camera and Sheila sports a pair of gladiator sandals.

Strangest of all is the plethora of accents that range from R.P. via Hackney with a stop-off in Essex, despite the play being set in Didsbury.

Overall the writing is sharp, but onstage there’s more ham on display than in a butcher’s shop window.

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