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In the groove for a rare treat
Just for the record: Lenny Henry as Adam, Jeffery Kissoon as Clifton, Larrington Walker as Rudy and Lorna Gayle as Doreen. Pictures: Robert Day Rudy’s Rare Records
Birmingham Rep
**** AS plays go this is a bit like Rudy’s
Handsworth record shop, a bit of everything for everybody scattered
around the bins. There is humour, poignancy, humour, drama,
romance, humour, music and did I mention, humour because it is very
funny? Rudy’s shop-come-social club started life as a
sitcom on Radio 4 and writer Danny Robbins has done a good job in
turning what was a 30 minute episode format into a play that stands on
its own two feet - shaky reggae feet in Rudy’s case – so whether you
have ever listened to radio show matters not a jot. Former RSC actor Larrington Walker gives a
wonderful portrayal of the part he played on radio, Rudy, the
cantankerous owner of the shop where the rarest thing is an actual
customer – one who actually buys something. His heavy Jamaican accent and patois means not
every word is picked up but the gestures and facial expressions are
enough to get the gist, usually variations on disdain. He has a fair singing voice and gives us a
remarkable dance which requires knees and hips to ignore basic human
anatomy. Developers want his shop, which is rapidly
sinking financially under a mountain of debt – not that Rudy notices as
he just throws any bills away unopened. That would solve the debt problem but Rudy is refusing to sell. His son, Adam, has returned home from London to
look after his dad after Rudy suffered a heart attack and it is a role
that fits Lennie Henry like a glove. From teen stand-up star Henry has matured into a
fine actor and Adam gives him the chance to show all sides of his stage His son Richie, is well played by Joivan Wade, a
member of the National Youth Theatre, and he gives us the other end of
the generations as we see how Adam tries to learn from how he was
treated by Rudy in the way he treats his own son. Romance, and laundry, is supplied by Doreen,
played wonderfully as a typical West Indian lady of more mature years by
Lorna Gayle, last seen at the Rep in I was a Rat. Lorna, is also
an award-winning reggae singer, and it shows in the numbers she
performs.
Then there is Clifton who runs the florist shop
and hates flowers. Jeffery Kisson, again from the radio series and
another with RSC on his CV, is a lovely foil for Rudy as two old
reprobates with a past that may or may not be entirely true – did Bob
Marley come and stay in the guest room and was Rudy really in the
Jamaican Tour de France team? Back to youth again and from the dark side we
have Natasha Godfrey as the young goth shop assistant who always arrives
a couple of hours late, usually because she has been caring for her dad
who has Alzheimer’s. The story is simple; the battle to save Rudy’s
Rare Records from the twin threats of developers and debt but it is more
than that, it is a story of relationships. There is Rudy and his son Adam, where affection
has never really been shown by father to son, but, as Clifton says to
Adam: “You may be right, he doesn’t like you, he loves you”. Then there is Adam with his son Richie, and the
realisation that as a parent your children should be able to tell you
anything, including why Richie is home from uni. There is the on-off-on-off etc. relationship
between Rudy and Doreen where Doreen wants commitment, or at least
stability, while Rudy is . . . well Rudy. And then we see another Rudy with his old friend
Clifton in a friendship that goes back to when they both arrived as
immigrants. Fund raising to save the shop gives an excuse for
a sort of reggae jukebox musical section, or at least a concert on a
Handsworth balcony, with some reggae standards from Henry and Lorna
backed by an excellent quartet under musical director Joseph Roberts on
bass. The fourth best reggae band in Handsworth (out of
four) are rehearsing for free in the backroom of Rudy’s shop throughout
the play, which means familiar snatches of music drift in an out behind
conversations. The play has some cracking one liners and
observations, such as why Chiwetel Ejiofor didn’t win an Oscar for 12
years a slave for example. There are race and immigration issues, social
comments, family issues and studies of relationships in what is a very
human story, but above all it is gloriously funny. But, and isn’t there always a but, a little
judicious pruning might not go amiss on a first act of almost 90 minutes
and a running time of around two hours and 45 minutes. Still, this was a world premiere and there is
plenty of time to bed in and evolve what is excellent material. The
excellent cast and band got a standing ovation, unusual at the Rep, and
everyone left with a smile on their face, and you can’t ask for more
than that. Meanwhile for younger readers record shops were
places where you hung around, listened to music and gossip, met mates
and sometimes even bought records; and records were . . . oh never mind.
Just go see it. To 20-09-14. Roger Clarke
09-09-14
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craft
from drama as both the concerned son and dad to his own offspring, to
comedy with excellent timing, with even a bit of stand-up thrown in and
a more than decent singing voice.