Corrie! – Lowry Theatre, Salford

Writer: Jonathan Harvey

Director: Fiona Buffini

Reviewer: Malcom Wallace

The Public Reviews Rating:

In December 1960 Coronation Street premiered on ITV and quickly became an institution. Fifty years on the soap has not lost any of its appeal and still attracts the best of best in terms of actors and writers. To celebrate this milestone, and following the success of other TV to stage successes such as Dad’s Army and Dinnerladies, Jonathan Harvey, prolific playwright and Coronation Street writer, has followed suit and written Corrie!, a new comedy. And with such an abundance of material to work with, one can barely imagine how he has managed to condense it into two hours. But manage it he has and the result is an affectionate and amusing romp through all five decades of the soaps history in a style similar to that of the Reduced Shakespeare Company.

A great many famous scenes are recreated, mostly poking good natured fun at the absurdity of some of the storylines. The death of Mike Baldwin, Alan Bradley’s dramatic death by tram, murderous Richard Hillman’s last evil act and other iconic scenes are amusingly played out, which all contrasts nicely with the moving scene where widowed Hilda Ogden breaks down clutching her late husband’s glasses, an unexpected moment of poignancy. Much is made of the many marriages and tribulations of long suffering Gail, whilst the dysfunctional Barlow family provide endless amounts of material ripe for mockery.

The cast meet with mixed success and some characterisations are much better than others, but this is totally forgivable when one considers that between the six actors well over 50 recognisable Corrie characters are portrayed. Leanne Best is particularly good as Gail, along with also playing, amongst others, Tracey Barlow and battleaxe Blanche. Katherine Dow Blyton plays Deirdre to a tee and causes great hilarity with her over the top performance as Audrey Roberts. Josie Walker’s portrayal of old favourite Annie Walker is frighteningly close to the original. She is sensitive as Elsie Tanner but less convincing as Raquel and Emily Bishop. Simon Chadwick is excellent as Ken Barlow and very funny as Jack Duckworth and whilst Matthew Wait doesn’t get to grip with Bet Lynch, he nails Steve McDonald and Peter Barlow.

One thing that can be universally said for this cast is that they work exceptionally hard and keep the momentum at a premium throughout.

Narrating the piece is Charles Lawson, instantly recognisable as Corrie rogue Jim McDonald. Whilst it’s a good piece of casting in so far as it strengthens the link between the soap and this stage show, Lawson disappointingly reads his script. If this is intentional then it needs to change as it doesn’t work. If not then shame on Lawson for letting the side down and not learning his lines!

Utilising images of the street itself, Liz Ascroft’s layered set is fit for purpose and respectful of those cobbles we all know and love. The set further benefits from a good lighting design by Ian Scott.

Director Fiona Buffini keeps the action moving at a good pace most of the time, although there are a couple of awkward silences between scenes. This is easily fixed though and, once sorted, will leave the show a little more slick and all the better for it.