The stage show based on the extremely popular 1970’s TV show written by Raymond Allen, which starred Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice, crashed, banged and walloped it’s way into The Regent Theatre this week.
Regularly attracting over 20 million TV viewers, the show depicted the accident-prone Frank Spencer who, despite every fibre of his being, having nothing but good intentions, would find himself in more and more ludicrous situations and infuriating those around him, even occasionally, his long suffering wife Betty
Written by Guy Unsworth, it is a very respectful nod to the original concept, but is not a re-imagining or re-telling of previous TV episodes. This gives the main cast the breadth to make the characters their own rather than imitating the original actors.
Joe Pasquale is brilliant as Frank, his presence, physical comedy and the ability to keep it all going when everything around him is descending into the chaos orchestrated by Frank himself.
Sarah Earnshaw expertly plays Betty the lovable, long-suffering wife, supporting her husband through the unfortunate recipe of the cataclysmic.
Joe and Sarah work together beautifully and they have toured with this production as the main cast over three years ago and this chemistry shows. They also appeared in an adapted John Godber play ‘April In Paris’ by Godber himself, which was re-written as a one-act as the first stage show after lockdown.
The writing is brilliant and the laughs come at such a pace that you are still laughing at one thing when something else comes along. The cast carry this momentous pace throughout and it truly is high energy, from the script delivery, to the set/props work (without giving too much away), at times you genuinely don’t know where to look next on the stage. And they (literally) bring the house down.
Supporting cast includes Susie Blake (Coronation Street, Mrs. Brown’s Boys) as Mrs. Fisher, Frank’s mother-in-law, whose booze-fuelled revelations are at the delight of the audience. Moray Treadwell (The Railway Children) and Ben Watson each share 2 roles. Finally, Father O-Hara played by James Paterson, who finds himself more and more confused by Frank’s antics as the show goes on.
Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em is what we need right now. A barrel of belly laughs, stand out performances, high energy start to finish and good wholesome fun.
For more information and to buy tickets click here
For our interview with Sarah Earnshaw, click here
