“A Play, A Pie & A Pint - It’s Behind You” Review

Article written by Emily Newbold

Starring Alan McHugh, Paul James Corrigan

Directed by Ian Grieve

Play written by Alan McHugh

Generally, when you go to the theatre you don‘t expect to get a pie and a pint included in the price or to choose your seating on the day. I arrived at the Lemon Tree to be greeted by tables set as if in a restaurant, rather than usual theatre seating. On production of my ticket a pie and a pint were obtained. As my first time attending one of these shows, it was an interesting experience.

The audience was allowed into the room a full hour before the performance started (maybe it had something to do with the free pie and pint!) Settling at a table in the back of the room, with a centre view of the stage, I waited for the show to start.

The stage was set - a dressing room during pantomime season. A small set up, just big enough for the two actors, something that would ultimately add to the plot and feeling of the play. If you looked closely at the stage, you could find hidden references to Alan McHugh's long and passionate relationship with the Pantomime world. From subtle costumes hanging in the background to the small trinkets on the dressing tables, a piece of Alan McHugh and his love for Pantomime was weaved into the set (and most certainly the play).

"Is this a dagger I see before me?" is hardly the opening line you expect to hear from a Panto Dame, as she walks on stage, carrying a rubber chicken, but this is no Pantomime, as we quickly come to learn.

The entire play is set in the dressing room of "Norrie" (Alan McHugh) and "Nicky" (Paul-James Corrigan) a Panto Dame and her 'daft boy', who also happen to be Father and Son. After a disastrous evening performance of "Jack and the Beanstalk" the resentment and tension between the characters finally rears its ugly head, forcing them to face up to it. What is the cause of the tension? Maybe it has something to do with the advancing career of the younger actor Nicky? Or maybe it's the failing memory of Norrie? The cause turns out to be something much closer to home than the audience could ever imagine.

The first part of the play is what you would normally expect in terms of Pantomime humour (with an adult spin to it, of course) - Norrie and Nicky are arguing about that evening's performance, with Nicky being blamed for everything that went wrong - from the late entrances to incorrect lines. Nicky, in return puts the blame where it should lie - with Norrie, all while trying to get ready for an event that evening.

The comedic chemistry between McHugh and Corrigan was like lightning. The timings and comebacks provided the humour without it being forced. Corrigan must be applauded for his performance as "Nicky" as he finds the perfect balance between the daft and serious persona required for the character throughout the play.

What came next can only be described as a stroke of genius by Alan McHugh when he wrote the script. Feeling certain I knew where the plot was heading, I was lulled into a false sense of security, only for it to be ripped away moments later, when we finally learnt what was at the heart of the tension between the two characters.

It is here, ladies and gentlemen, that I have no shame in admitting that I cried at what followed - a devastatingly beautiful monologue by McHugh, which cleverly, yet cruelly uses the format of a Dame addressing the audience with "Boys and Girls". For me this was the high point of the play, and McHugh's performance can only be described as haunting. The realness he expressed as to the situation he found himself and his Son in and it's lasting repercussions makes you stop and think that for all the humour and happiness played out through Panto, there are real people behind the makeup and colourful costumes. The world they inhabit on stage may not match the life they actually lead.

From this point onwards the play had a different feel. Father and Son became reconciled to a certain extent with the release of the built up tension and could finally move on with their professional and personal relationships.

"A Play, A Pie & A Pint - It's Behind You" was truly a great piece of theatre and I'm glad I had the opportunity to see it. The humour expressed - from a rubber chicken to Norrie and Nicky going over their lines (much to the annoyance of Nicky) - had the audience laughing with joy one minute only to be stunned into silence the next when presented with the monologue. I hope I have sparked an interest in you to go and see this Play. I purposely did not reveal the full details of the Play so as not to spoil your enjoyment.

Alan McHugh and Paul-James Corrigan, along with Ian Grieve have created a masterpiece, which I'm sure will be performed many more times in the years to come.