... and this is my friend Mr Laurel review
Gail Louw’s script offers an intriguing portrayal of Stan Laurel’s true thoughts and emotions, which are realistically captured by Jeffrey Holland
(Picture by Michael Wharley)
Stan Laurel appeared in his sketches as a fidgety, vulnerable figure, frequently seeking the approval of his corpulent comedy partner Oliver Hardy, and in this envisagement of his true self, many of those traits are embodied. This one-man performance details the extent to which his desperation for success drove the duo towards legendary status.
Just a single chair and empty bedframe set the scene of Hardy’s bedroom. The rest is left to the monologues of Jeffrey Holland, who in playing Stan Laurel realises a long-time ambition.
Laurel is visiting Hardy on his deathbed, and from the offing, the tone is set by Holland’s highly intonated call for ‘Babe’ (Hardy’s intimate name). He untiringly recalls their past successes, decisions and personal hurdles, displaying his inadequacies as he continues to spiel to his unconscious partner.
The audience have to imagine Hardy lying in the empty bed, but his presence is well and truly felt due to Holland’s stage-filling performance. In addition to executing Laurel’s accent and mannerisms, he also commendably impersonates Hardy in cutaway scenes, where he re-enacts some of their most famous sketches. “You can lead a horse to water but a pencil must be lead,” produces one of the biggest laughs, as well as Laurel’s ‘trap door’ gag. These moments offer the comic relief to Gail Louw’s script, which is well structured and realistic, but not for the feint-hearted.
This is only a suggestion of Stan Laurel’s off-screen personality, but it still offers a factually robust and therefore telling insight into his life. “In the divorce she said I hit her and I ignored her at parties. The second part’s true,” he says, shortly before expressing his disdain towards a paper that referred to him as ‘the much married Stan Laurel’.
Holland is faced with the challenge of imagining the real Stan Laurel, and by passionately portraying the comic’s likely frustrations and worries, a strong sense of authenticity is brought to this one-man performance. His excitement and dedication to the role couldn’t be clearer when he dons the iconic bowler hat.
Chris Edwards - Cynical CME
