Writer/Director: Rowan Armit-Brewster
Produced by Skedaddle Theatre in association with Shoddy Theatre and York Theatre Royal, A Brief Case of Crazy delivers on its pre-production promises. We are promised physical theatre via slick choreography, mime, clowning and puppetry – and that’s exactly what we get – and comparisons of Rowan Armit-Brewster’s style to Mr Bean, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton are fully justified.
The whole thing is totally silent except for a few train announcements and a brilliant sound design (Armit-Brewster again), with perfectly timed effects and a terrific music tape ranging from Tchaikovsky to Elton John, with a wistful Scots melody that your reviewer should have recognised, but didn’t, underscoring the melancholy of Thomas and Daisy’s love.
The story is simple. Thomas (Armit-Brewster) is a shy introverted office worker who is besotted with Daisy (Lennie Longworth), also – as it happens – a shy introverted worker in the same office and besotted with Thomas. Of course they don’t have the confidence to confess their love, so it’s very fortunate that each has a file with an image of the other! Their boss is Simon (Sam Cunningham), also with eyes on Daisy and a distinctly more aggressive personality. Daisy is about to leave, so the chase is on: Thomas is relentlessly bullied by Simon, but a final resounding slap from Daisy settles the argument!
The route to this totally desirable outcome is full of delights, none more so than the train-on-the-way-to-work routine at the beginning, perfectly co-ordinated, splendidly bizarre movements that spell out the stages of the journey. Thomas and Daisy’s dance routine in the middle of the play is another gem. So, too, is the recurrent drawers-of-filing-cabinet gag which claims both Thomas and Simon as victims – and puppet designer Kirstie Scarlett-Bruff comes up with the largest and fiercest gull you’re likely to see to interfere periodically in the action.
Surprisingly, given that we all know it’s going to end happily, there are moments of real pathos, the poor bullied Thomas puppet is an obvious case. But above all it’s Longworth who inspires our sympathy. Her radical changes of expression recall Giuletta Masina, her moments of feared loss are more like Edna Purviance – and she can dance with a joyous abandon. Cunningham is a paper tiger, but he can roar with the best of them and preens himself charmingly in the mirror in his brief case. The important brief case, though, is the one with Daisy’s love heart inside and Armit-Brewster pursues that with the ardour of a Chaplin in between dancing himself crazy and exhibiting as fine a range of prat falls as you could expect to see.
Scarlett-Bruff’s set has a couple of fixed skyscrapers, but generally is on wheels as, indeed, the whole production seems to be.
Runs until 18 July 2026, then tours the UK from September
The Reviews Hub Star Rating
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9
