Preview: Reasons to be Cheerful at Theatre Royal Stratford East

Preview: Reasons to be Cheerful at Theatre Royal Stratford East

15 October, 2010
by: Naima Khan

Naima Khan talks to playwright Paul Sirett about his upcoming musical inspired by Ian Dury.

The rehearsal room at Graeae looks more like the practice studio for a untamed band of Ian Dury and The Blockheads obsessives. They're rehearsing Reasons to be Cheerful, soon to run at Theatre Royal Stratford East from 22nd October.

In the lead role is Stephen Lloyd as Vinnie who bounds around the room introducing members of the band. While towards the back, guitar in hand, stands Paul Sirett, the playwright and suspiciously quiet man behind the madness.

His play within a play is set (for the most part) in 1979 when Vinnie and his friends, desperate for tickets to see Ian Drury and The Blockheads embark on the road trip of a lifetime to catch them at Hammersmith Odeon. Sirett has picked a poignant time in the musician's career, Vinnie's life, and the state of the country to explore through Dury's music. He explains the parallels between the late '70s, early '80s and today when he says, "The changes were similar to what's going on now. Labour were voted out and Thatcher came in. People were talking about cuts and money was tight".

The gig at Hammersmith Odeon saw the band playing at one of London's biggest venues for five nights. It's an important time for Vinnie too, he explains, as like many of us during a time of grief he does something wild to cheer himself up. Two years after his father's death, Vinnie recalls his road trip at his father's memorial and has his family join him on stage to reminisce to 'Reasons to be Cheerful (Part 3)' and 'Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick' among a catalogue of Dury's most memorable hits.

Reasons to be Cheerful is as much an adventure story as it is a musical. A world away from Ticketmaster booking fees and the endless refreshing of browser pages, the kids of 1979 meet fellow fans and dodge scalpers on their mission to get tickets. Their memories, triumphs and pitfalls form the landscape of the plot in a warmly familiar storytelling format.

As well as Ian Dury and the Blockheads tracks, theatre company Graeae have informed the format. Crippled by polio in his childhood,  Dury was a patron of the inclusive theatre company. Happy to make a point of issues of access, inclusion and the patronising nature in which people with disabilities are often regarded, Dury penned the controversial song Spasticus Autisticus in 1981which was banned by the BBC.

Graeae create inclusive plays that encourage access to theatre for people with disabilities. The play is an onslaught of colour and vibrancy that cleverly works audio description into the script and the aesthetic of the production. Paul has come up with a particularly clever idea for how to relay this for audience members who have issues with their sight; it involves a punter on his phone observing the event.

The pervading influence is Dury himself. His anarchic spirit, as I witnessed in the rehearsal room, is embraced by the cast and penetrates the scenes making for a celebratory, rebellious musical. 

Reasons to be Cheerful runs at Theatre Royal Stratford East from 22nd October until 13th November.

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Naima Khan