Today there's a quite fantastic sounding play by Spike Milligan taking place at the Theatre Royal. Milligan, a comic genius, major influence of Monty Python's Flying Circus, and responsible for The Goon Show which my father likes to play loudly from cassette and walk around the house booming "He's fallen in the wet type water thing" [sic].
Happily entitled, "Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall" the play is a mix of gloriously absurd war memoirs and celebrated hit comedy. It's "critically acclaimed" and makes critics and real people laugh, which in achieving both is brilliant. It's also got a pleasing amount of good jazz including, for people that know jazz far better than me, Chattanooga Choo Choo, Ain’t Misbehavin’, In the Mood, Honeysuckle Rose, Kalamazoo and many more.
(Occasional quotes from the official blurb there, but all points to rather bloody good).
"High comedy and tragedy collide, as we follow Gunner Milligan and his jazz quartet, adrift on the tide of great historic events. Using Spike’s own words, the show joyously fuses comedy, song and dance – showing how humour, music and comradeship enabled a hapless bunch of young men to prevail against the might of the Nazi War machine."
It sounds very good, and the reviews section (can be found here by clicking 'reviews') is full of glorious quotes telling you it's all very funny indeed.
It runs from today, its opening night, until Saturday the 23rd. )This is not too long.) It's on at 7:45pm each day, and you can find tickets here for £26 (not sure if there's student prices but online booking suggests not). It's quite a bit, but it's a fantastic play so I recommend it whole heartedly.
"Warning: contains barrack room humour."
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