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Tom Roberts as Henry and Gill Jordan as AliceThe Secret Lives of Henry and AliceSwan Theatre, Worcester***** Far from ordinary or extremely normal, The Secret Lives of Henry and Alice, took to the stage at Worcester Swan Theatre unravelling the truths about marriage and monogamy into a comedic, riveting and hilarious performance with a fishy undercurrent. Meet Doreen star Gill Jordan who bubbles away as an extremely bored to near death housewife called Alice Smith, but who the f#@* is Alice anyway? We know she loves a clean kitchen work surface and fantasises about French waiters rubbing oil across her exposed flesh but does she really possess a master suck and is she overfeeding goldfish Orca on purpose? Midland’s actor Tom Roberts, we all know from Doctors, Emmerdale and Coronation Street, to name but a few, hustles along as Alice’s humdrum husband Henry who loves a good fact and is a dab hand with the Deep Heat. Henry becomes exacerbated as Alice constantly messes up her sayings but why use one word when two wrong ones will suffice? Husband and wife team fantasise their lives away as secret agents, President of the United States, sexual goddess, Casanova and Fred and Ginger to get away from their everyday lives to no avail, even when Henry attempts to spice things up by hiding his slippers and being undecided on whether he wants fish or spaghetti for tea, nothing can prepare you for the extraordinary twist at the end. Black Country playwright David Tristram from Quarry Bank has given this play oomph and directed this award-winning comedy as it traverses the theatres in the UK for the first time. As Henry and Alice change from one fantasy to the next, with seamless costume changes, despite revealing more than a seagull could swallow on the Welsh Coastline, you will not be disappointed with the emotional swim upstream. The chemistry between Jordan and Roberts is palpable. The use of cleverly edited and acted videos to set the scene without having to alter any of the physical pieces adds to the imagination of the fantasies hidden within each carefully crafted character. The Secret Lives of Henry and Alice was a joy to watch from start to finish and the relationship really tips the scales as the audience sinks into the choppy waters of a marriage on the rocks. Be careful what you fish for! Henry and Alice bicker on to Wolverhampton – Newhampton Arts Centre 11th June; Birmingham - Crescent Theatre: 13th June; Tenbury - Regal Theatre: 15th June; Walsall - Forest Arts: 20th June; Rugeley - Red Rose: 22nd June; Redditch - Palace Theatre: 27th June; Cannock - Prince Of Wales Theatre: 13th July. Tickets available online from doreen.tv. Emma Trimble O8-06-19 |
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