A great night out at Tomfoolery

Moira de Swardt
01/16/2010

Moira de Swardt: This is a delightful musical revue based on the satirical lyrics and music of Tom Lehrer.

Despite the fact that these numbers were first performed in the 1950s and 1960s, it is not, as I expected, horribly dated. Rather, this is an introduction of old favourites to new audiences. A few of the numbers from the original have been cut and I suspect these are the ones which either no longer work or are not accessible to South African audiences. The commentary has been updated. Timewise, the cut is a blessing, particularly for midweek audiences who have to work the next day. An extra twenty minutes would make it a late evening.

Three of South Africa's veteran singing thespians, Kate Normington, Matthew Stewardson and Malcolm Terrey combine forces under Greg Homann's direction to cause the audiences many merry and mirthful moments.

The costuming is very simple, mostly black suits (and it looks as if Kate Normington might not have anything under her jacket, which keeps the straight men awake even if they hate musical theatre) dressed up for some numbers. It always works. The set is similarly Spartan and this always works for me. I find fussy sets distracting at times.

The comedy works well. The characters use their real names, so Kate in "The Irish Ballad" had me in stitches, while Malcolm in "The Masochism Tango" will provoke many a girl to jealousy of those legs. Matthew will amuse as he sings "I hold your hand in mine". What makes these numbers work is their timeless themes which make a pleasant change from still more South African situational humour. Best of all, there is not one single football reference, for which those of us who are already tired of these can be grateful.

Mildly naughty but never vulgar (I suppose this does date it rather) this is suitable viewing for cross generational outings. The Vatican Rag may cause some mild Roman Catholic discomfort in fundamentalists.

It would be remiss of me to fail to acknowledge the competence of the trio of musicians, Shaun Smith on piano, Graham Curry on double bass and Neil Etteridge on drums.

An excellent night out at The Old Mutual Theatre on the Square, Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton until 13 February 2010.