Partly it’s that the production have struck an almost impossibly good balance between taking the story seriously and being silly, letting the audience completely buy into the ridiculousness of the situation. But it’s also that they’ve managed to harvest the warm nostalgia of the 1940s and a surprising, serendipitous snapshot of today – with austerity Britain and a Royal Wedding in sight (the use of both original cine footage and actors playing Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip was a masterpiece). It’s an oddly inclusive feel for those of us that weren’t around for this original Royal Wedding, lending the piece an air of familiarity and also making it seem surprisingly relevant.
As well as the pull of the original source, A Private Function (how anyone can resist Handmade Films, Alan Bennett, Michael Palin, Maggie Smith and pigs as a combination is a mystery to me), I also couldn’t resist the chance to complete my League of Gentlemen hat trick – having in the last couple of months seen Mark Gatiss in Seasons Greetings and Steve Pemberton in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Reece Shearsmith certainly didn’t let down the high standards set by his former colleagues as I thought he was excellent, adding a softly lovable pathos to the role. However, he was a little overshadowed as I was utterly blown away by Sarah Lancashire who owned the stage from the start to the end, being both demanding, difficult and completely sympathetic. I also greatly enjoyed Adrian Scarborough and Ann Emery in their supporting roles, with excellent comic turns and both excelling in their spotlight numbers – Painting By Heart (which I keep finding myself humming everywhere) and Pig No Pig.
As well as these hummed interludes from the show, I’m also finding whole lyrics bursting into my mind as it has managed the almost impossible (Matilda excepting of course) and become instantly memorable. In fact between Matilda, this and a few composing teams I’ve got in sight it’s almost starting to look like a new golden age for British musicals. Somebody was a particular favourite, with Magic Fingers not far behind and a few others bustling for mention in the background. In fact, I could probably sing you a few bars of seven or eight of them, which with my miserable memory is rather impressive.
I also enjoyed a lot of the staging, with the twisting set changes standing out for me and the use of the revolve. Elements like the changing shop name worked well and whilst I had some doubts about other parts it’s hard to resist the gentle, funny, quirkiness of watching urinals rising from the stage during A Piss Stained, Piss-Poor Country (another excellent and witty number). In fact, quirky would be a good description for the entire shows aesthetic, also suiting the choreography which I was impressed with throughout – with Another Little Victory and the gas mask clad It’s An Ill Wind standing out. My favourite sequence though was the one set in The Primrose Ball, from the lovely transformation of the tea shop which also revealed the band on stage through to the energetic dance routine, the joy, the shock and the sorrow – it was an excellent small part of a much bigger whole.
Which, of course, just leaves one thing to talk about – the pig. I suspect my love of puppets is well enough documented on here already, so now it’s time to admit that I am equally enthusiastic about pigs. My Mum has a saying “A dog will look up to you, a cat will look down on you but a pig will look you straight in the eye” – the fact that she has a saying about pigs probably tells you enough about my family. All things considered I was almost guaranteed to be delighted by Betty and I was. Yes you can tell how she works and no she’s never quite convincing but it’s hard to dislike her as you watch her batting her eyelashes at the cast and audience.
An utter success and one I was eager to see again from better seats if I could scrape the money together, luckily for me I managed to win tickets. Sometimes life just gets better and better, especially in the company of a mechanised pig.
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