One thing that endears the Royal Court to its core audience more than anything is the sense that it is almost a repertory company in all but name. Not only are its productions populated onstage by a band of familiar faces, but there is a regular staff working away backstage in writing and producing their constant stream of new work.
Bingo Star is no exception to this, and as well as a cracking ensemble cast there is a familiar list of names in the creative team. The first thing we notice before the show even begins is the characteristically structural set from Olivia Du Monceau. With nifty architectural detail, it barely looks like a set at all, blending the onstage world seamlessly with the theatre auditorium. The faded grandeur of the Bingo Star bingo hall, converted from a former music-hall, sweeps us back in time to the pre-refurbishment Royal Court itself.
Alan Stocks is Arthur, owner and Emcee of Bingo Star who, despite having run up crippling debts to keep the business going, manages to blind himself to the problems of falling attendance and astronomical maintenance costs. The building needs a major refurb to get it back on its feet, but it sits in the middle of a potential development area and Tony, the man from the council (Paul Duckworth), has his sights set secretly on the land.
What Tony also has his eye on is Lesley, Arthur’s daughter, played by Keddy Sutton. Lesley’s own daughter, Bella (Paige Fenlon) and the venue’s latest employee the singer Debbie (Helen Carter) form an alliance not only onstage belting out numbers, but in the background too, and they try to fathom the reason that Lesley seems so distracted these days and how Tony has acquired damaging information that looks set to scupper the future of Bingo Star entirely.
Audience participation comes in the form of genuine cash-prize bingo games that take place throughout the show as Arthur and his team prepare for a national link game in which they hope to win the mega-bucks they need to save the family business. Here the script, penned by the Court’s own head of marketing Iain Christie, has shades of Julian Kemp’s affectionate comedy film House!, but, as you might expect in this theatre, there are more twists in the tale. The show is punctuated (rather than propelled) by a sequence of musical numbers, mostly delivered through the vocal talents of Carter and Fenlon, and accompanied by Bingo Star’s resident musician Keyboard Keith, in which Jonathan Markwood seems to be channelling Bill Bailey. As it turns out though, Keith has more to him than meets the eye.
Christie has created some nicely rounded characters and a multi-strand narrative that fits the house style very neatly. Affectionate personalities that the audience can invest in, an oily baddie to hiss at, dialogue peppered with puns and one-liners and a musical score that gets everyone clapping and, at times, singing along. Whilst Emma Bird’s direction for the most part keeps the ensemble on-message and in rhythm, there are moments where this rhythm skips a beat or two, and a little polish on the necessary slick delivery wouldn’t go amiss here and there.
Christie’s biographical note in the programme is more than a little self-deprecating, suggesting that his previous writing experience includes two plays and several shopping lists. It is absolutely clear that years of working closely alongside the other staff writers has imbued him with a keen nose for what works on this stage. This, his first full length play, is a worthy addition to the venue’s comedy canon.
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| Helen Carter, Paige Fenlon, Keddy Sutton and Alan Stocks in Bingo Star - picture © Jason Roberts |
Star rating – 3½ stars
This review was originally written for publication by Good News Liverpool
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