Sheila Hancock, lee Evans and Keeley Hawes have the time of their lives in a foul-mouthed comedy, says Emma Curry
E WEST ENd REVIEW
THE ONLY WAY IS
SHeIlA HANCoCK, lee eVANS AND KeeleY HAWeS
PICtUreS bY AlAStAIR MuIR
ssex is probably the most
famous county in Britain at the moment, thanks to the popularity of a certain reality TV show and its perma-tanned cast members. The time seems right, then, for the first performance of Clive Exton’s final play, Barking in Essex, written just a few years before his death in 2007. In his heyday, Exton was king of the television whodunit, having written for Poirot and Rosemary & Thyme, as well as fine-tuning his comedy skills on the famous Fry-and-Laurie vehicle Jeeves and Wooster in the early 90s. This new play combines elements of all of these previous works, and more, in a brilliant and hilarious mash-up of crime and comedy. The story deals with the Packer family, an affluent crime dynasty whose remaining members currently reside in a hilariously tacky house in Barking, filled with cream carpets, blinged-up cushions, plastic deer antlers, lava lamps, and a jukebox tucked away in the corner. Younger brother Algie is about to be released from prison and return to this leopard-print luxury to enjoy his earnings from a previous robbery. There’s just one problem the rest of the family have spent his millions whilst he’s been inside. The play opens with dim-witted younger brother Darnley (a hilariously gurning Lee Evans) lamenting his disastrous attempt on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? to try and win back some of the money. His wife/half-sister (!) Chrissie (an unexpectedly uncouth Keeley Hawes) and no-nonsense matriarch Emmie (a fabulously sweary Sheila Hancock)
BARkIng In ESSEX runs at the Wyndham’s Theatre, Charing Cross Road, London, tel 0844 482 5120, visit www.barkinginessex