Come Dancing

'Come Dancing' looks nostalgically and critically to the heyday of the Ilford Palais in the '50s, a temple to stale beer, Brylcreem and cheap perfume. The family that ex-Kinks Frontman Ray Davies and his co-writer Paul Sirett put on stage is loosely based on Davies's own. In the predictable plot, Julie (one of three sisters) finds herself pursued both by Tosher, an ex-borstal boy, and a Jamaican saxophonist. Wandering through the past is Ray Davies's storyteller, as if Bill Nighy had been let loose on the set of 'Chicago'. Davies is no actor, but he remains the most charismatic person on stage. It's a good-time evening which dices with chaos but never loses its dancing shoes.