Review: Take Me Home County Road at Liverpool's Royal Court ****
Liverpool’s Royal Court has a history of nurturing the talents of its extended theatrical ‘family’ – encouraging staff, and also members of its regular cast, to develop their own ideas and projects.
Linzdi Germain and Angela Simms’ knockabout hospital comedy The Royal springs immediately to mind.
Actor Adam McCoy made his own Roe Street debut appearing downstairs in the Studio in Masquerade, penned by Laura Lees who was working in the box office at the time.
Now in turn, McCoy’s professional debut play, Take Me Home County Road, is receiving its premiere on the main stage – and it proves a very welcome addition to this heatwave summer’s live entertainment.
McCoy has taken on board all the elements that generally come together to make a successful Royal Court production and has created a properly feelgood show that’s driven by an irresistible soundtrack and laced with laughter - but also has unexpected heart.
And, this being more than a little bit Country, a little heartache thrown into the mix too.
He’s also kept it relatively simple, which is no bad thing, with a clear and straightforward narrative arc, a tightknit cast of just five characters and, for the most part, a single setting, the (unfeasibly capacious) kitchen of a two-up, two-down terrace in L4.
Shelly (Helen Carter) is a middle-aged teaching assistant whose 22-year marriage to teenage sweetheart Mick (Lenny Wood who, plot spoiler, reveals an unexpected talent) has become uncommunicative and seemingly stale, one with money worries simmering in the background just to add to it all. And why does the elusive Mick keep getting mysterious texts?
Above: Helen Carter as Shelly and Keddy Sutton as Margy. Top: Carter and Sutton with Eithne Browne (Joan) and Adam McCoy (Anthony). Photos by AB Photography.
She’s also still mourning the loss of her beloved dad who always supported and encouraged her youthful ambitions to be a singer, a loss made more acute by the reluctance of sparky mum Joan (Eithne Browne) to talk about her late husband.
Shelly’s not the only one who feels like her life needs a reboot. There are also her friends and next-door neighbours, ditzy goodhearted Margy (Keddy Sutton) who gathers the courage to put herself out there and get back on the dating scene, and flamboyant Anthony (McCoy) who bravely takes the plunge to follow his dream.
McCoy said he wrote the characters with fellow Royal Court regulars in mind. How lucky then to secure them all for this inaugural run, and it certainly works to the production’s advantage, creating a natural ease and believability, even in the story’s slightly more outrageous moments.
At its heart is Carter who radiates both warmth and vulnerability as Shelly, and also brings her rich and resonant vocals to the party, delivering a clutch of Country classics including Patsy Cline’s Crazy and Dolly Parton’s lyrical megahit I Will Always Love You with power and palpable feeling.
Above: The cast of Take Me Home County Road. Photo by AB Photography.
Country numbers pepper the action, from the opening Two Doors Down to Stand By Your Man (its arrival visible from afar, like Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia) to Man! I Feel Like a Woman! to the singalong finale of, no prizes for guessing, John Denver’s classic – albeit given a Scouse twist.
With Country music also played over the auditorium sound system before the start and during the interval, its impossible to avoid the inevitable earworm…all you can hope is it’s not Achy Breaky Heart!
Refreshingly, while it’s a bit saucy here and there, McCoy’s script doesn’t default to the kind of language that would trouble the Court’s ‘gran-o-meter’ swearing count, while he shows a flair for amusing bon mots which are delivered with smooth timing by the cast working under Emma Bird’s crisp and lively direction. And you certainly get the sense the actors are enjoying themselves while entertaining their audience too.
As mentioned earlier, most of the action takes place in Shelly and Mick’s kitchen. Elsewhere the production makes good use of a giant screen and Jamie Jenkin’s video design, while setting Shelly’s big moment IN the Royal Court itself is a canny move, not least cost wise in these financially trying times.
While the dramatic tension is there, it remains on the mild side – the first half ends if not a whimper, then certainly without a bang.
But perhaps Take Me Home County Road’s gentle and warm-hearted vibe is just the tonic in these troubled times. And McCoy should be justly proud of producing such a crowd-pleaser.