It was once said that the way Spike had written Puckoon it would be impossible to transfer it to the stage or screen. Well, as mentioned above they tried a film version with Richard Attenborough as the narrator and Sean Hughes as Dan Milligan (they renamed him Madigan!) but watching it back the other night it seemed very 'dry'. I expect the cast had a great time but the finished film just misses out.

Not so this Puckoon as created by Big Telly Theatre Company. It was glorious and as Silé (Spike's daughter who was sitting just a few seats away from me said), "Dad would have loved it!".
 
The cast of five were most ably attended by Paul Boyd, sitting at his keyboard and playing little musical interludes to one side of the stage and himself very much a part of the proceedings as the Narrator. At one point he needs someone to play the part of Julius Caesar and as all the other actors are busy he has to do it himself in his best Italian voice, " My black-a panther has-a escaped, bring-a da help". Very funny.
 
Talking of the cast of five, they not only play themselves in the main roles but they also play dozens of other 'parts' along the way, seamlessly switching between characters at the drop of a hat. In one very funny exchange Bryan Quinn (using just a red neckerchief) changes from a man (kerchief round his neck) to a woman (kerchief on his head as a scarf) in the blink of an eye and a turn of his heel. He even ends up talking to himself in both voices. Tremendous.
 
John O'Mahoney is wonderful as Fr. Rudden (he was in the Christmas episode of Father Ted on C4 so that was perfect casting) along with his other characters Blind George Devine, Mrs. Doonan and so on.
 
Russell Morton switches between Ah Pong the Chinese policeman and Lenny (with the arse out of his trousers) in an instant just by walking through an on-stage 'door'. He also plays O'Brien and Foggerty the village idiot brilliantly. Talking of Ah Pong, there is a very funny (hilarious) scene where Lenny lays in the coffin to try it out for size and when it is finally re-opened (having been in full view of the audience all along) it is Ah Pong who pops up, complete with silly Chinese grin. The song that he then gives us (accompanied by Paul Boyd and the rest of the cast who can all play several musical instruments very efficiently) is a wonder to behold, and as for his leaping along with his little Chinese legs popping out the top of the coffin it's all-in-all a masterpiece of comic acting.
 
(This door, the coffin, a table and a couple of chairs seem to twist and turn into so many other objects ad-infinitum; tombstones and so on, that the on-stage effect is spellbinding itself to watch).
 
Jack Walsh played the straggly-bearded Dan Milligan with great effect, even using his own legs as the props in the opening scenes "Ah!, I tink I'll bronze me limbs) which introduces the Narrator into the story when he (Milligan) accuses him of writing "crappy" legs… and the narrator promises to improve things and at least make sure that Dan comes out of it alive.

Glen Kinch (a self-confessed Goon Show fanatic) was excellent in all his roles, turning from the extremely 'jewish-looking' Dr. Goldstein into The Major, Captain Clarke and many others by simply putting on a different hat or jacket and spinning around into his new character.
 
Meeting the cast and crew afterwards was wonderful, along with Vincent Higgins (the writer) and Zoë Seaton (the producer), as they were as much enthralled in meeting us as I was in meeting them. Very surreal discussing the play and breaking into character myself when chatting to the actors who had only moments before been those characters on-stage. I made them laugh as much as they had made me. I couldn't help myself, and having met Spike many times I knew myself that he would have whole-heartedly approved.
 
An excellent production that deserves to be seen by a much wider UK audience. The whole ensemble were superb and I'd like to say more but I'm running out of superlatives so I think I'll end by saying that it was quite simply, marvellous.