Review: Intimate Stratford theatre is perfect for this rich performance

The Bear Pit Theatre’s first foray into music kicked off in style this evening with a rich performance by Richard Digance.

Richard has been rhyming his way around the folk, comedy and TV circuits for years - and it shows in his relaxed manner and his vast repertoire of songs. Sad songs, like The Ballad of Johnny Puller and funny ones like Where do Fish Go In a Flood? were strung along in a series of hilarious shaggy dog stories that just kept coming.

Richard’s art is disarming and he pitches it to suit his audience. A great finale was his song Two Hundred Remembers, in which he recited a litany of old fashioned sweets and sang the theme tunes to the adverts some of us remember. A full house rose as one to the call of Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom - Esso Blue! And there were more than a few who could remember the words to the Ovaltineys’ song!

Like all great comedy, Richard’s has an edge to it. Just how did Somerset come to look as if it were part of the Atlantic Ocean? Why were summer holidays always sunny when we were kids?

And, to quote one title: What’s the Use of Anything When You Don’t Have Anything?

Richard’s rapport was such that he out-did Gareth Malone by turning the audience into a choir in just four and a half minutes (though perhaps he said that just to be kind). It was a great evening of warm entertainment in a venue that is perfect for small, intimate acts such as this.

Nick Le Mesurier