ABBA aficionados will recognise the title of The Way Old Friends Do, from Ian Hallard (writer) and Mark Gatiss (director), which is playing for a short run at The Criterion Theatre, writes Katie Kelly.
The ‘old friends’ in question are Peter, an ABBA-obsessed bisexual Brummie librarian, and his old friend Edward, a man of leisure living off the wealth of his much older husband. The two have been out of contact for many years until reunited via Edward’s short-lived experiment with Grindr. This chance encounter moves quite quickly from embarrassment to the reestablishment of a friendship that had obviously been meaningful in youth and which forms the real, possibly the only, substance to the play.
In a convenient turn of events, an ABBA tribute band booked at the local library theatre cancels at the last minute leaving Peter’s friend Sally with a problem. Cue Edward’s moment of inspiration. The suggestion that he and Peter could form the female half of a cross-dressing new ABBA tribute band, ‘Head Over Heels’.
Two women are recruited to play Bjorn and Benny, with a bit of help from a wonky beard, and new stars are born. One show turns into a series of gigs, a jeopardy moment and a more or less happy ending.
The vibe here is TV sitcom. There isn’t a huge amount of character depth or development. The set is clever and rescues the show from an otherwise slightly ‘am-dram’ feel.
Sara Crowe, as Mrs Campbell the strait-laced local piano accompanist, is the standout performance. Her effortless comic timing produced howls of laughter. This would be a good-humoured gentle night out if it weren’t for the very occasional bits of gratuitous single entendre. These jokes were appreciated by the self-selecting audience of opening night but would put off a wider audience who might really benefit from the poignant beauty of Peter’s mid-life coming out to his beloved Nan, voiced by Miriam Margolyes. There’s a disappointing lack of ABBA music as all the ‘Head Over Heels’ performances happen off stage, though the band in all their glory do bring the show to an end with a rendition of Dancing Queen which is great fun but not enough to leave me shouting ‘encore’.
The Criterion Theatre, 218-223 Piccadilly, St. James’s, London W1J 9HR until 9th September. Times: Mon-Sat 7.30pm; Thur & Sat matinees 2.30pm. Admission: £19.50 – £62.50
Booking: www.criterion-theatre.co.uk
