The Comedians at Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith

The Comedians at Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith

22 October, 2009
by: Dominick

Trevor Griffiths' play The Comedians, at the Lyric Hammersmith, dates back 35 years when, to be honest, its bawdiness may have been more shocking than it is to a 2009 audience. It is composed, roughly speaking, of a gang of comic performers competing with each other to make more and more explicit and offensive utterances, justified by the tenuous plot-line that there is success and money to be had by the winner of this competition in filth.

Almost the only sparks of interest for the audience are the mannerisms, and to be fair, the costumes of the players: ranging from (almost) tidy suitings, to the utterly squalid cardigan and trousers effected by the roughest-tongued member of the company.

The only impetus that keeps the show going is to surprise the audience with new scatology. To be fair, the night I was there, the audience certainly enjoyed the first act of the show. One could see why, for deftness and expression, the piece has earned the enthusiastic support of critics and theatre writers.

But as the second act progressed there came to be some restlessness in the audience, a good number of whom, including your reviewer, left at the second interval.

In the programme, the Artistic Director, Sean Holmes, wrote: "Comedians is one of my favourite plays. I first read it when I was 17, it had a huge impact on me and it helped me to realise what theatre could be".

His comment is entirely to the point: the play might have thrilled him at the age of 17, but coming to it now, it is but a poor and raucous offering, and slight credit to the usual high standards of the Lyric stage.

Check out Comedy Theatre in London
Check out Theatre in London
Check out Things To Do in London

Dominick