Frank’s Closet
Stuart Wood
Directed by Sasha Regan
Arts Theatre
Star rating: 4.5
I first saw this revival of Stuart Wood’s wonderfully camp and warmly affectionate show earlier this year at Union Theatre. It has now matured into something quite special. It’s witty, poignant and bears all the hallmarks of Sasha Regan’s high-octane, muscular direction.
The plot gives us Frank (Andy Moss, outstanding performance) about to marry Alan but having cold feet as he packs up his costume collection, which is going to the V&A, with a mixture of pride, reluctance and a lot of nostalgia.
His imagination conjures up four Gaiety Girls, two of whom are men, whose choreography (Jo McShane in fine form) is fast, furious, funny and fabulous. Best of all though, is the summoning of a diva to give him, and us, a turn by seven iconic women of the stage and screen.
All these are played by Luke Farrgugia who is the real star of this entertaining show. Each appearance is almost literally a show stopper. He really does look and sound like Marie Lloyd, flirting with the audience, dropping double entendres and singing in a gloriously gravelly voice. As Julie Andrews – with some of the best comic timing I’ve seen in a long time – he’s in full soprano falsetto. His Judy Garland turn is sexily authoritative and quite poignant. It’s a showcase for a very versatile talent
The costumes are terrific too (designed by Indy Rivers). If I owned that stunning apricot velvet dress worn by Farrugia as Marie Lloyd, then I wouldn’t want to give it away either.
Stuart Wood’s songs are a joy too. Many are in 3|4 or 6|8 and trip along tunefully sounding completely authentic for the periods they represent. Anto Buckley leads a four piece band (keys, trumpet, trombone, percussion) which sits on stage. Wood’s writing for tombone is especially memorable and played, at the performance I saw, with humour and panache by Peter Crocker.
The show is framed by a solo singer in a sailor suit. Paul Toulson sings his yearning numbers well enough but as a device it doesn’t add much to the narrative and feels like a bolt-on.
