Surviving Spike
Based on Norma Farnes’ memoir, Surviving Spike is a quite revealing account of Spike Milligan’s life as seen through the eyes of his Secretary/Manager/Assistant. While recounting many of the public events during Spike’s time on Earth, it has a different point of view to that of other biographical accounts, such as that of his children in the documentary I Told You I Was Ill. Not having read Norma’s book, there were some stories about Spike that I hadn’t encountered before.
The play had a very interesting structure, telling Norma’s tale as live narration by her character with numerous scenes where she interacted with other characters. Any correspondence from Spike was read by him which added much more life then if it was merely recited by ‘Norma’. This structure allowed the play to cover a lot more ground than if it was merely a series of set pieces.
An elaborate set was constructed on stage to transport the action to various locations. We had Norma’s office to the left and a raised platform where Spike’s office/refuge was set up with desk, bookcases and bed. We went to Spike’s favourite Jazz Club as a table and chairs were moved from stage left and Spike climbed into a hospital bed during his bouts of illness. Lighting played a large role in the show by dimming to a yellow glow during Spike’s bouts of depression and brightening when he was on top of the world.
Michael Barrymore portrayed Spike brilliantly, capturing is mannerisms perfectly and bearing a rather close resemblance both physically and vocally. He took us through all of Spike’s highs and lows. He even presented a segment of Spike’s stand up that, while based on an actual stage performance, was pulled off as if it was performed off the cuff. There was a small bit of obvious ad libbing and plenty of audience participation that the crowd were only too happy to join in with.
Norma was played by Jill Halfpenny in an often ‘matter of factly’ way that, apart from the heated exchanges between her and Spike, didn’t allow her to show much in the way of broad emotion. She was shown to be very much the firm rock in contrast to Spike’s erratic moods. Perhaps it was the thick Yorkshire accent that robbed it of life but she seemed to brush off events such as her divorce and it wasn’t until Spike’s final days that we got to see Norma in anguish. I’m sure if this was Jill’s decision to portray Norma this way or she was following the tone in which the book or play was written.
Hywell Morgan and Elizabeth Price did a wonderful job in bringing the peripheral characters to life, doning various costumes and popping in from the side of stage in many fleeting appearances. Elizabeth handled Spike’s wives and girlfriends, while Hywell popped up as various waiters, reporters and acquaintances. They allowed the main focus of the piece to remain on Spike and Norma while adding the necessary colour to the events.
_Surviving Spike was a brilliant piece of theatre that provided an amusing, interesting and often surprising account of a well loved comic genius. It deserved the standing ovation it received.
Visit the Fringe Website for booking details.