Review: Jack Absolute Flies Again by Shoestring at Stamford Arts Centre
Those who bought tickets to Shoestring’s latest production should be congratulating themselves for their spiffing foresight this week.
Jack Absolute Flies Again (Stamford Arts Centre from Tuesday until Saturday), is a sell out. And thank goodness, because on this occasion an empty seat would be a missed opportunity for someone.
While getting 160 bums on seats each night was the work of an eye-catching poster, a fun-sounding storyline and - we must add - coverage on LincsOnline, it was then up to the cast and behind-the-scenes creatives to pull out all the stops.
They did.
The first night had the audience in stitches; the well-written script, conceived from Sheridan’s The Rivals and reset in the 1940s to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, was delivered with professionalism and charisma by the local cast.
Some of the funniest moments are found in exchanges between the aristocratic but linguistically challenged Mrs Malaprop (Lucie Swannell) and her maid Lucy (Estella Todisco).
Swannell has an air of Alison Steadman in Abigail’s Party, trying to be the host with the most but missing the mark, while shutting your eyes turns Todisco into Catherine Tate - although it’d be a shame to do this for long, since her winks and sideways glances make the audience complicit in her unscrupulous behaviour. As her character points out, she’s more than just a plot device.
Also in his element is Guy Sharman as Jack Absolute, a Hurricane pilot whose squadron is stationed at Malaprop Hall’s makeshift RAF base.
If the measure of a good actor is how they cope when things go wrong, then Sharman has this acting lark nailed.
A fluffed line near the start didn’t phase him, and by acknowledging the muddle while keeping in character he allowed the audience to find it amusing, not awkward. Later, a faulty shoe was another chance to think on his feet and deliver a quip. He has the unflappable temperament you’d expect of a fighter pilot.
Also impressive on stage is Kevin McCabe, playing Major General Sir Anthony Absolute in a style not far off General Melchett in Blackadder Goes Forth. McCabe should take a bow for the breadth of roles he’s undertaken in recent productions, including playing a tender-hearted pensioner in need of homecare in Visitors, and a late 18th Century schoolmaster in Love’s Labour’s Lost.
Jack Absolute Flies Again is Shoestring’s most crowd-pleasing performance of recent times, and hopefully the theatre company will keep this in mind when choosing future productions.
