REVIEW: The Reluctant Celebrity
Are we as a society making celebrities out of people who should never, and in the past would never be one? It still infuriates me to this day the heights of fame the Kardashian’s have reached. I feel so old saying it, but back in the day famous people were talented. They could sing, perform, played a sport, at least did something. A celebrity surely, should be someone in the public eye who is someone to aspire to be like. ‘Aspire’ being the important word there. To quote Monty Python, “What have the Kardashian’s ever done for us?” Okay, maybe they never said that, but honestly, what have they done? Had a dad that was affiliated with a suspected murderer (OJ Simpson), had plastic surgery and… and… and… made a sex tape? Anyway, I’m straying off topic. What I’m trying to say is that with the development of smart phones, the use of applications like Youtube, Vine, Facebook and Twitter are going through the roof and people like the woman who stuffed a cat in the bin are getting paid a fortune to do interviews. This may seem like an irrelevant rant but it’s not, this rant for me is the reason that Clarke McWilliam wrote ‘The Reluctant Celebrity’. Clarke, much more intelligently than me, used the power of comedy and satire to comment on this topic.
On Monday 4th April, I attended the opening night of Page to Stage Festival and managed to catch Clarke’s show. Clutching my pad and pen tightly I sat at the back of Liverpool’s usual music venue the Zanzibar ready for an hour of theatre. I will admit, sitting there, feeling like I was back at the Edinburgh Fringe, I was terribly excited. As a member of YEP and a frequent theatre goer surely I shouldn’t be getting so excited when I arrive to see a show, but I did. This was different. This was a piece of new writing, directed by an aspiring director performed by aspiring actors, one of which was thirteen, in a non-stereotypical theatre space.
‘The Reluctant Celebrity’ followed one man and his rise to fame, his name was Ian Cartwright. Performed by Alan Kenny, Ian was very much a Jack Dee character whose misery drove the comedy. Ian somewhat reminded me of my own Dad, who constantly battles with his son, in one scene arguing that he was definitely working class, even though they have a swimming pool. Ian’s annoying son Ashley, brilliantly performed by Ewan Pollitt, was a final year University student always accompanied by his camera, constantly trying to film something for a project. Just one of the many things that Ian hates, claiming, “Your generation are obsessed with filming.” Something I’ve definitely heard my dad say. Little does Ian know, he’s about to hate filming and cameras a lot more, as he suffers a heart attack and Ashley catches it on tape. Ian, fortunately is okay and recovers, but he wishes he hadn’t as the footage goes viral and the world wants more from the now famous ‘HEART ATTACK MAN’. No one wants that nickname. Ian then becomes hounded or more footage and potentially more heart attacks by everyone, his son, the press and his very strange neighbour ‘Donny’. The press, fantastically performed by Amy Stout and Chris Chritchley took me back to my childhood and reminded me of the Pokemon TV series bad guys, ‘Team Rocket’, the bad guys who were constantly one step behind. A great stage partnership and I can honestly say I hated you both. Not you so much Chris. They stalked him, found his house on google earth, searched through his bins and at one point they even burgled Ian to get information from his wallet. And with all their searching for gossip they find something, a huge twist and a real bit of dirt. But to know more, you’ll have to get Clarke to put it on again.
A few words of advice, cut the blackouts. Find a more intelligent way of using the space and the stage. Every black out you lost momentum, tension and more importantly, the audiences concentration. The more smoothly the scenes run into each other, the smoother the scenes themselves will run. Use transitions, use the curtain and spend your time on stag wisely. If you only get an hour, use the hour entertaining us, don’t leave us sitting in the dark for ten seconds every time the scene ends. And from a scripting point of view, everyone has to want the fame but Ian. His wife, kids, neighbours, friends, press, people in the street, everyone. That is what drives comedy. Samantha (Ian’s wife, performed by Kathryn Rigby) should be checking her make-up and fluffing her hair every time she comes on stage, constantly on the look-out for the camera. Everyone needs to want the opposite of Ian until THAT moment. And then we the audience will want what Ian wants too.
This play is about a family, relationships and secrets. It is about the media and the incessant need for gossip. It touches on topical issues and questions what we find most important in life. Don’t take for granted what is right in front of you. Establish what is real in life and don’t waste time watching ‘The Kardashians’. Okay, that last one was me. One line will stay with me forever, “We must protect ourselves from media intrusion.” One person not mentioned nearly enough in this is the wonderful Charlotte Dowson. A brilliant performance, with excellent comic timing. Hope to see you in something else soon. This was a good story that was well performed and has potential. It’s not finished yet and I’m sure you all know what you’d change and how you’d change it, but be proud, enjoy it and keep up the hard work.
And finally, Ian, you’re middle class. You wear jeans from Debenhams.
