Alfie

Prior is perfect as Cockney Charmer...

I SUGGEST that Wythall Theatre Company make their next production Hamlet and give the troubled prince's part to talented Jonathan Prior, writes David Whipp.

His commanding performance in their latest outing, Bill Naughton's Alfie, has probably been superb training for othe big one.' The roles are similar in some respects: both characters dominate their respective plays, both soliloquise and turn their minds inside out Hamlet full of doubt about his inaction, Alfie never in any doubt that the horrible things he does to the women in his life are for the very best.

In long bouts of self justification, using mangled logic, Alfie tells his tawdry tale. Operating in the early '60s, long before the advent of the 'new man,' he wages a guerilla war on womankind, loving and leaving remorselessly until the pregnancy of a friend, and its seedy outcome, forces him to take stock.

It was during this emotionally charged bout of self examination that Mr Prior could have come unstuck. Playing the strutting wide boy, but revealing that same character's deeply hidden soft centre, even for a few moments, is a high-wire act. All I can say is, that in the Palace Theatre, Redditch, jaws stopped chomping, breathing was suspended and to the hum of the air conditioning, he made it safely to the other side.

Other cast members shone, when they could get a word in edgeways. Mike Beamish switched adroitly between Alfie's kindly rival Humphrey and lorry driver Lofty. Jack Parramore's touching portrayal of a remorseful widower was a treat and Roger Warren's doctor looked every inch a grubby practitioner of 'fringe medicine.' I didn't spot a dub performance anywhere.

First rate, inexpensive, local entertainment.

David Whipp, Bromsgrove Advertiser