Bev's Baps
by Laura Thompson-Gray
Louth Riverhead Theatre
7 -9 June 2023
Hambledon Productions and Louth Riverhead Theatre return to the stage this week with a brand-new comedy written by Laura Thompson-Gray. Bev's Baps is the winner of tis year's Scratch Night competition and has been developed and directed by John Hewer alongside Laura. There is a saying that comedy is hard. In this instance Thompson-Gray makes it look easy.
She has created a self-contained world with touches of pathos to blend in with the madcap antics of her cast. The play is set in a greasy spoon diner with half-empty bottles of Heinz Ketchup and all day Full English Breakfasts washed down with gallons of builders' tea. John Hewer assisted by Katherine Briggs has helped to create a world on stage that we can easily believe in, the set looks great and they even manage to fit a vehicle on stage too!
The diner is "Bev's Baps" - named after the youngest of three generations of women that feature in the play (Grandmother, Mother and Daughter). To describe them as dysfunctional is unfair to dysfunctional families as these women take dysfunction to hilarious levels. Then we have the gentlemen of the cast, though gentlemen is a misnomer too!
There is an air of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice to Thompson-Grey's script as a a lovably, dim-witted Beverley is desperately seeking a man to match up to her fantasy - Peter Andre. Natalie Clark brings a sweetness and innocence to the role of the junior member of the triumvirate of women in the play. Bev lives in the back of a van parked outside her diner which essentially provides for her every need on a day-to-day basis well every need bar one... she desperately wants a man.
To begin with, Bev seems to have that man in heart throb hunk, the slow witted bin man Andy played by Stuart Spendlow. Spendlow's Andy is easily manipulated by all those around him who would take advantage of his looks and his wallet. Needless to say, a fool and his money are soon parted and Bev's mother played by Adele Simpson, appears to drive a wedge between daughter and her potential love interest.
The shrill, self-serving mother rides roughshod over her daughter's feelings. Simpson brings a real bite to the role and there is venom behind the delivery of many of her lines that chills the soul as she mocks her daughter. It is clear that any maternal instinct left a long time ago and she remains out for herself and her own ends.
Cafe regular, Trevor is a sweet, gentle giant of a man and played with subtlety by Philip Marshall Jr. Every day, he comes to consume a full English and sugar-filled tea, watching proceedings and yet never passing judgement on the horrors before him. His delightfully simple approach to life seems to make him the best satisfied member of the ensemble and yet there is an underlying melancholy apparent in Marshall's performance.
James Burgess is a real con man as Nigel the convict, a penal pen pal produced by Bev's quest for love. Nigel wants to feather his own pockets and to escape to the Costa Del Crime to spend the rest of his days in the sun and so sets out to exploit the kind-hearted Bev by draining her bank account. Burgess shows us both the smarmy charmer and the fiery convict that we love to loathe.
And finally, there is the matriarch, Bev's grandma played by Jo Cox. I never tire of watching Cox bring er comic personas to the stage, she manages to give us such a different character each time that you forget it is even the same actress. Here, Coox's grandma is a sweary Scouse battleaxe who adores her granddaughter but despises her own offspring with a passion. Her bluntness and the outrageous nature of her outbursts come close to stealing the show.
But it is the titular Bev, Natalie Clark, who succeeds in winning over the audience, as they root for her, to forget Peter Andre and find the happy ending she so richly deserves. It is a performance of which Jane Horrocks would be proud. This delicious new comedy from the pen of Thompson-Gray bodes well for the future. Does every joke land? Not quite. Is it a sweet and innocent comedy? Not given one or two of the lines or sight gags. But it is exciting to see new talent develop and I really look forward to seeing what comes next from this clearly talented writer.
There are very limited tickets available for this hotly anticipated comedy that was the audience favourite at the Riverside Theatre's Scratch Night; scramble to get one before they sell out. Details are found on the show's poster below.
Andy Evans 06 June 2023
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