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Jiggery Pokery

This event has now finished Until Dec 19 2009 BAC, Lavender Hill, London, SW11 5TN Full details & map

Theatre: Off-West End

Time Out says Rate it

By Nina Caplan Posted: Fri Dec 11 2009

Before they became known as 'John Lennon specs', they were the trademark of Charles Hawtrey, who enlivened at least a dozen 'Carry On…' films with his goggle-eyed pseudo-innocence and naughtily intoned 'halleew!' Amanda Lawrence's one-woman show sprang from her resemblance to Hawtrey, which is certainly remarkable. To tone it down when playing the poor unfortunates who had to deal with Hawtrey, Lawrence and director Paul Hunter bring in a great deal of stage business, some of which is terrific: Lawrence is so fast with a headscarf that one shudders to think what she might do with a gun. But sometimes, this playfulness garbles what is in fact a tragedy.

Hawtrey was gay at a time when it was illegal; openly promiscuous in a fashion that precluded love; professionally dissatisfied; and a lifelong alcoholic who repeatedly embarrassed himself. Actually, repetition was the story of his life - another one-night stand, another 'Carry On…' film, another drink. Lawrence, helped by an artfully rumpled set, extracts a surprising number of laughs from his sad life. Nobody could like Hawtrey, and nobody did, but, while the balance between raucous oo-er and tragedy isn't always quite right, Lawrence succeeds in eliciting a great deal of sympathy for him.

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