SURPRISE! The audience hides, jumps out and shouts to surprise Sooty on his 75th Birthday. This is the first of many points of audience participation in this fun, farcical show which celebrates the history and journey of Sooty from 1948 to present day.
Richard Cadell brilliantly prepares the audience to join Sooty’s Birthday party, along with the classic characters Ramsbottom, Butch, Scampi and the main trio themselves. He not only engages the children but the “mums and dads” too, often alluding to the notion that this show is for the older generation. People from all stages of life are on their feet dancing to and singing traditional party songs, laughing as water is squirted from a pistol over their heads and wishing they were young and lucky enough to be one of the children who get to pie Richard in the face. This show is not unlike a pantomime with many opportunities to shout out ‘he’s behind you’ or repeat lines with Richard such as the call for a “bigger cake” so the audience members can have a piece each.
Textbook Sooty scenes play out bringing increasing absurdity to the simple set. In party preparation, Sooty holds on to the balloon he is inflating and it pings into Richard, meanwhile sweep holds on to a balloon and flies away. These chaotic scenes cause much laughter in the theatre. Speaking of chaos, Richard’s ability to improvise and ad lib when things don’t go to plan reflects his warm likeable nature and experience. When Sooty manages to inflate a balloon- rather quickly- the gag is that Richard can do it quicker, however the hand beneath the counter switches a red deflated balloon for a yellow inflated one, Richard then announces that “someone is getting a P45 tonight”. Those beneath the counter deserve praise as they work within aspects of the unknown in live theatre. Richard leaves the stage and the audience welcome Blackpool Tower Circus’ Michael Jordan who entertains the party guests with his mesmerising skills including juggling and spinning plates. With many opportunities for things to go wrong, there is a strong team behind this show.
This is not a sit down and watch piece of theatre, but it is one that demands participation to be enjoyable, perhaps a call to revisit your childhood; failing this the result could be a headache. One quite remarkable moment that brings stillness and respect to the stage is when Richard performs an act from the original Sooty Show of the 1950’s. Harry Corbett [the original Sooty ‘Daddy’] did a bedtime routine with Sooty, and Richard brings this to life 75 years later. It’s intimately set and spotlighted at the front centre of the stage and truly exudes appreciation for the journey Sooty has been on and the simplicity of a man and his teddy bear.
Reviewed on 3rd April 2024
