'The Good Life' was a British sitcom of the 1970s. It was much loved and yet, surprisingly only ran for three years (1975 - 1978), and starred, who were then the doyens/nnes of British light entertainment theatre: Richard Briers, Penelope Keith, Felicity Kendal, and Paul Eddington. At that time the script was funny, the pace was light and quick, and the cast completely in sync with each other.
Cut to 2021 and a UK touring show which tries to lovingly recreate the first two episodes of that sitcom. This theatre tour takes and reworks the initial two episodes in which we understand the meaning of 'the good life', as respectable couple number 1 renounces work, bills, modern exisistence, and turn their suburban home into a fully self-sufficient eco-farm, whilst respectable couple number 2 and their immediate neighbours look on in a mixture of disgust and envy; but find themselves happy to lend a hand to try to save the runt of the litter, when faced with a tiny piglet's imminent death.
The script should have sparkled; the cast should have been fighting off the laughter, the energy should have been palpable, and the chemistry between the cast should have been electric. What we were presented with in actuality however was nothing more than a damp squib. Not even superb comedy actor Rufus Hound could save this one. It seemed to take forever to even receive the first titter from the audience, which only really started to liven up once we were introduced to the goat! The script seemed very dated, the jokes weak, and the acting tired and laboured.
The set, which tried to resemble the TV set as near as possible, looked authentic, and I liked the idea of a cleverly designed triangular revolve (yes, I know that doesn't really make sense, but you need to see it to understand what I mean), and the lighting and sound were both sensibly designed and worked well. Although having cast members enter from underneath a black curtain at the side of the stage for one scene was less than amatuerish I'm afraid.
It wasn't even really a fault of the acting: the four main characters (played by Rufus Hound, Preeya Kalidas, Dominic Rowan, and Sally Tatum), all brought their own respective talents to the table, and tried to meld them with the characters they were playing, making them recognisable without resorting to obvious caricature, and they all managed this balance well - it was just that there was little or no chemistry between them, the pace was unbearably slow, and the lines they had been given to say simply were no longer funny; or at least those that were funny, were too far apart from each other with a lot of 'filler' in between.
Two other cast members made up the ensemble, and it was these two who actually made the evening funny. Tessa Churchyard and Nigel Betts were called upon to play every other cameo character that appeared in this production, sometimes with a rather quick change. Of course, much more could have been made of this as a running joke, but what they did was still funnier in most places than the main storyline.
Two other cast members made up the ensemble, and it was these two who actually made the evening funny. Tessa Churchyard and Nigel Betts were called upon to play every other cameo character that appeared in this production, sometimes with a rather quick change. Of course, much more could have been made of this as a running joke, but what they did was still funnier in most places than the main storyline.
All-in-all, this is a period piece which simply did not translate onto the contemporary stage, and something which is only ever likely to appeal to die-hard fans of the original TV sitcom. A time capsule which perhaps should have stayed firmly buried.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 26.10.21
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