Review: DROP THE DEAD DONKEY: THE REAWAKENING, UK Tour
Manuel Harlan
For a generation that recall That Was the Week that Was (1962-63), Not the Nine O’clock News (1979-1982), the original Have I Got News For You (1990-2002) and of course Drop the Dead Donkey (1990-1998) with their witty topical satirical weekly doses of TV comedy, the revival of Drop the Dead Donkey: The Reawakening is an appealing theatrical event. No satirical show has quite grabbed a mainstream TV audience in the same way since. There was no doubt as the tour of the new version reached Woking New Victoria Theatre that the audience were drawn by the stellar casting and welcomed each of the original TV stars with a warm round of applause on their first appearance.
The revival envisages a reunion of the original newsroom team of Globallink News, thirty years on, to launch a new TV channel, Truth, into a media world twisted by fake news, AI, proliferation of social media messaging and multiple traditional TV Channels where the search for ratings and likes drives the news agenda. The returning team are gathered by Gus (Robert Duncan) who has secured the funding of American sounding backers. He secures the return of Damian (Stephen Tompkinson), the field reporter disabled while on location, Sally (Victoria Wicks), the snobby news anchor with a pushy American agent, the anxious Editor, George (Jeff Rawle) desperately trying to keep his girlfriend and Dave, the general dogsbody, (Neil Pearson) the reformed gambling alcoholic philanderer. Their relationship on meeting again holds promise in a first act that fizzes with clever topical gags and neat reflections on both the original series and the modern news agenda. Joining them in the team are Helen (Ingrid Lacey), the efficient deputy editor and a lesbian, Joy (Susannah Doyle) the cynical and vindictive personal assistant now promoted to HR manager, Mairead (Julia Hills) the investigative journalist looking for the next bid scoop and Rita (Kerena Jagpal), the young intern. The line up allows the Truth channel to tick the diversity boxes on gender, sexuality, ethnicity and disability and pokes fun at the modern attitudes with plenty of gags based on these protected characteristics in a way that mainstream TV today would possibly be scared to present.
The play may have been on tour since January, but writers Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkins have structured the plot to allow the insertion of a batch of fresh weekly topical gags which give the show the same wonderful edge that the original TV series had. It’s a perfect vehicle for today- sharp satirical , lampooning the state of UK News reporting, social media and modern politics but referencing back to capture the essence of the original TV series. We hear that one returnee has spent time as Liz Truss’s and Prince Andrew’s press officers, briefly, and another was in Wuhan in December 2019 and claims to be COVID patient 001.
There are two rather laboured running gags about a voice recognition coffee machine and a computer algorithm that dictates the News agenda which soon run out of steam but the gags in the first act elicit plenty of big laughs. The Post Office Scandal and the clever people at Fujistu, The US Presidential candidates, Michael Gove being available to host a show, the number of Tory MP’s standing down and Sunak going for the SAGA vote are all weaved in to give it a very UpToDate feel. The biggest laugh came when a reporter was asked “Has Kier ever said anything interesting?” and the pause and look that followed was all that was needed.
The wonderful first Act which seemed sharp and topical does tail off as fast as the Truth ratings fall in Act 2. There is a topical gag about the infected blood scandal, but the writers main focus is to tie up the relationships and have a rant about the state of British News reporting as they note “viewers don’t believe the news is true anymore”, which the New Victoria audience almost certainly already agreed with.
The show continues this week at Woking before moving on to Cheltenham, Canterbury and Richmond in June, rather sadly ending before the General Election on 4th July unless it can find a West End venue for a month! If you are over 45 this is a delightfully funny show, with a tinge of nostalgia of a world where there were only four TV channels, a first-class touring cast with well-developed characters (after all there were 65 TV episodes over six series) and a satirical wit that is as sharp as it always was and earns it a four-star review.
**** Four Stars
Reviewed by Nick Wayne
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