A truly unique portrayal of a comedian who helped to spawn today’s sit coms
Hancock’s Half Hour, Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, until Saturday, March 2
The clock was turned back to the 1950s and early 1960s as the audience was transformed to the days when radio ruled the airwaves.
Multi-channelled, colour TV was still to be introduced and families crowded round the wireless to listen to their favourite programmes.
And one of those came to Bury St Edmunds tonight with this imaginative and authentic show.
Hancock’s Half Hour was a breakthrough series and Tony Hancock burst onto the airwaves of the BBC Light Programme with a comedy show unlike anything the British public had heard before.
And portraying the man himself was the amazing James Hurn, who, if you closed your eyes, you could just imagine the real thing on stage. His mannerisms and comic timing was perfect.
We were taken back to 23 Railway Cuttings, East Cheam, accompanied by the supporting cast of Sid James (performed by Ben Craze), Hattie Jacques (Laura Crowhurst), Bill Kerr (Tom Capper) and a marvellous portrayal of Kenneth Williams (Colin Elmer).
It was just like being in the audience for the original shows with the ooos, aaahs and laughs coming thick and fast.
The cast performed three wonderful episodes: “Hancock in the Police”, “The Americans Hit Town” and the hugely funny “The Wild Man of the Woods” when Hancock metaphorically strips down to just a loincloth with Sid James setting up trips into the “forest” (Clapham Common) to see the man who found his home in a disused bus shelter.
But the show was eclipsed by “The Blood Donor”, his famous episode with the immortal line of donating a pint of blood – “but that’s a full armful”.
The originality of the show included the radio announcer who came complete with his soundbox and props in the shape of Clive Greenwood.
Originally written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, who later went on to create Steptoe and Son, Hancock’s Half Hour redefined radio comedy and has had people laughing non-stop for the past 65 years.
It was one of the greatest comedy shows of all time which spawned so many of the current sit coms including the likes of “Fawlty Towers”, “The Office” and “Fools and Horses” to name just a few.
The show perfectly recreated the BBC recording studio of the 1950s and created a truly unique experience for the audience.
Russell Cook