What happens when you fail to reach the giddy heights of success as an actor? When a career high translates into a summer season in Blackpool rather than the bright lights of Broadway. That’s the intriguing premise of a play written by Andy Moseley and staged as part of the GM Fringe at the Kings Arms in Salford.
The one-hour monologue delivered with by knowing insouciance by Jac Wheble whom first we see getting ready to go back stage, applying her make-up and a brave front in order to contemplate the what-might-have-beens in her professional life.
Emily Benton tells us she is a star of stage and screen, reeling off an impressive list of theatrical and sliver screen productions, flitting between Broadway, the West End and LA.
She laments the bigger roles taken by bigger names – the Judiths and the Glendas – but is still obviously smitten with the level of success she has managed to achieve as an emigre from Down Under arriving on UK shores at the tender age of 16. Emily takes us with her on her journey from dodgy West End dance troupes where ‘you may be asked to bare your chest’ to auditions for Pans People, to fronting a Euro-pop band, to chorus line roles in Cats and beyond.
It’s a familiar tale of starlight dreams not quite turning to dust but failing to set the firmament alight and we are led to expect a neat third act in which Emily retires after a lifetime pleasantly treading the boards.
However, things take a decidedly darker approach in the second half of the play: suddenly Emily ends up in Cannock Chase (of all places) looking after a child while her errant husband enjoys the theatrical life in London. More revelations arrive to up-end our view of this ageing drama queen.
The play is full of waspish wit – Emily’s line that if you remembered the 60s you weren’t there, but if you remembered the 70s with its predatory maestros and ‘personalities’ then it was probably best to forget, being just one of many. The seedy underworld of provincial touring and the casual yet still shocking sexual exploitation of young actresses only serve dispel to any hazy notions of the ‘good old days’ of showbiz.
There is something of The Dresser and something of The Entertainer in this monologue with bite. Wheble gives us a defiant Emily, wistful yet hard-bitten, her caustic wit diluting any tenderness we may feel towards her. The acting is impeccable and the switch between light and dark impeccably handled.
Almost Famous was at The Kings Arms, Salford on 20 July continues its run at Buxton tonight (Monday 21 July) and tomorrow, ticket details here. Age guidance 12+