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It might be ten years old – and had a five year hiatus from The Liverpool Royal Court stage – but rest assured, the laughs, the slapstick, the puns and the overriding feel good factor of the Liverpool comedy classic that is Brick Up the Mersey Tunnels remains undiminished.
For those of you who don’t know – and I’m assuming that there might be some – here’s the story. Dickie Lewis, Nick Walton, and Gerard “Gelegnite” Gardner are three men who have had enough. Fed up with being looked down on and mocked by the self proclaimed upper class from the Wirral peninsula, they decide to take the law into their own hands.
This is out-and-out farce, beautifully created by Kirby and Allt, yet exquisitely executed by an exemplary cast of Royal Court stalwarts, chief amongst whom are Schofield, Browne, Brandon and Collins who all ease back into their slippers, plus fours, hi-vis jackets and pinnies as though five years has been but a blink of the eye.
As the new boy to the Brick Up clan though, it is Paul Duckworth who in taking over from original Gerry Davy Edge, certainly has big boots to fill. Not that you would know because, as ever, Duckworth delivers a faultless, beautifully delivered performance that is guaranteed to have you laughing out loud.
Yes the script has been tweaked a little bit and there are one or two things that Brick Up regulars will notice have been added, but these simply add water to the plant that is the eternal bush of merriment and so makes this tenth anniversary production of Brick Up the Mersey Tunnels all the more worth seeing if only for Francis Tucker’s creepily performed Liz Card in a tizzy.
Brick Up the Mersey Tunnels
The Liverpool Royal Court Theatre
January 29 – February 27
Authors: Dave Kirby & Nicky Allt
Director: Bob Eaton
Producer: Royal Court Liverpool
Cast Includes: Andrew Schofield, Eithne Browne, Suzanne Collins, Roy Brandon, Paul Schofield, Carl Chase, Adam Keast, Francis Tucker
PR Rating: ****