Permission to laugh a given

Along with a small but appreciative audience, I saw ‘A Fairytale Of Sorts’ written, directed and narrated by Johnny Grimshaw tonight at the salubrious Midland Junction Arts Centre. While the publicity suggests this play is informed by Python and Disney, I surmise that there is also a goodly serve of Benny Hill in there as well. The story itself is quite engaging, if more than somewhat cliché’d in places. The set is simple but suggestive, the light and sound basic but effective (tonight’s audience particularly appreciated the toe-cutting effect). The acting is patchy but convincing, with old hands helping out the newer starters, as of course they should. All sorts of eye candy in there helps the narrative to go down as well. But the main deal, as Gordon observes, is that it is a very funny show. It took a few minutes for tonight’s audience to realize they were allowed to laugh out loud, but once they started, the sniggers, the bellies and the guffaws came thick and fast. And the character that caused me to almost christen my y-fronts was the man himself, Mr G. Well done, all!