Watch Tutti Frutti for Free https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dxG47ZEtpg
Stanley Odd ...Oddessy....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uLPR7POznw
OK i could have hyper linked but this is all I can do for you.
If you dont know how to cut and paste its time to learn!
Slab Boys is set in the Slab room of a paint mixing factory in Paisley in the late 1950's. There’s a massive poster of James Dean, painted by Byrne, centre stage on the door of a cupboard. This makes sure that we don't bother to confuse this and there's rock and roll being played in the theatre, I love Little Richard! On stage we can see that a staff party is arranged so obviously music and culture are going to be important here. I've come with my mum who's feet immediately start tapping away....perfect I'm thinking, something we can both appreciate. We are in the stalls so we can easily look up and see John Byrne's painting from where we are sitting. It's my first time down stairs in the Kings and interestingly there loads of school kids down here. I'm pretty chuffed as I'm sitting two seats behind Michael Palin, or a seat with his plaque on it at least!
Two Glaswegians, one clearly a beatnik (complete with quiff) stride onto the stage, an amazingly high pitched weigie accent is squeezed from the nose of George 'Spanky' Farrel (Jamie Quinn). He is accompanied by Hector Mckenzie (Scott Fletcher) who don paint stained brown overalls in a particularly grimy looking work shop. The dialogue begins and it is evident from the beginning that this show is going to be back to back with one liners. All intensely colloquial...I love these and common language is a consistent issue with me and my mum so I'm glad its here. They are joined slightly later by the in house rebel without a cause Phil Mcann (Sammy Hayman), who' although bad is a lad with a heart of gold. His unfortunate background is disguised in humour. A brilliant way of talking about difficult social issues such as mental health. When this was written about and played originally you probably would people have laughed so easily at the misfortunes of a mentally ill woman throwing herself through a plate glass window and being abused by the health care system I ask myself? I mean if it wasn't in a historical context.
Class divide is put out there by the introduction of blazer wearing public school boy Alan Downie (Keiran Baker). Slab boys/working class versus public schools and desks. This is accentuated by go betweens, plooky fat man Jack Hogg (James Allenby-Kirk) and Lucielle Bentley (Keira Lucchesi). They straddle both the slab room and the higher positions in the factory. It's at this stage that I begin to lose track of who is of who isn’t in River City but my mum keeps me up dated. I'm struck particularly when I recognise, boss man Willie Curry (David Hayman). I say to myself.. 'Holy shit, it Sawney Bean disguised as Basil Fawlty!' The patoir between him and the boys is priceless with constant quips like 'this is a a rest home for retired beatniks, not a slab room' to which they consistently reply with unphased sarcastic retorts. The dialogue is sing songy or perhaps it would be better to parallel it with spoken word and almost reminds me of Scottish hip hop band Stanley Odd. It is accompanied by exaggerated almost dance like movement on the stage. The two beatniks appropriate a duet like stance in many situations. There are constant cultural references to do with fashion, class and religion. Some of them nearly deceased by today’s standards some still frighteningly relevant!
Behind us we had two Glaswegian ladies had cheered and shouted in all the wrong timings but they seemed closer to the reality of the play, one of them stated that her pop's always sent her to the bookies like Sadie (Kathryn Howden) the tea lady has to do for her half arsed husband. They clinked bottles around so was glad this time around that I'd not been out with my partner in crime or there would have been a right ruckas from our corner. It watches like an extended version of the young ones including guest appearances from Billy Bunter. All wickedly eccentric exaggerated characters. My older cousin was a massive fan of all the 80's BCC comedy stuff which he recorded on VHS so I've always known John Byrne’s Tutti Frutti and I can see now where it all started. I watched these all on a sunday afternoon after church. It didn’t make sense to me when I was a nipper like the young ones did in a slap stick way but Comic Strip giant Robbie Coltrane sucked me in even then! I might even go again! (rattles coppers jar)
My only complaint, hopefully wouldn't occur on a second visitation, for this show is the size of the coupon on that man two down from me. Mum said she would go again...with or with out the constant nose blowing, packet crinkling and beer swilling going on behind us, but that can be easily remedied by bringing my own cold, crisps and booze. While I was in the toilet at half time I overheard a conversation from some 16 year old girls who had come with their class. One of them stated, 'well it's better than I thought it would be'. If I was John Byrne I would take this as a massive compliment! Imagine...a child of the teenies even pretending to like some thing about the 50's made in the 70's. It's the equivalent , in my mind, of giving them a BBC computer and expecting them to know what to do with it!
