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The
phenomenally successful West End comedy The Play What I Wrote arrives
at the Milton Keynes Theatre next month.
A celebration
of one of Britain’s greatest comedy double acts Morecambe and
Wise, it first opened in London a couple of years ago to rave reviews,
winning many major theatre awards.
A consultant
on the show from its first tentative beginnings as an idea some
ten years ago, to its status today as a cult hit, is Gary Morecambe,
Eric’s son. But as Gary reveals, although he had an idea to
do it, and had all the inside knowledge, so to speak, it very nearly
didn’t come about.
"About
ten years ago I wanted to do a play about Morecambe and Wise but
didn’t really know how to go about it" he explains.
"Then
my agent told me that David Pugh, the producer of Art and The Blues
Brothers and a big fan of Morecambe and Wise, had had the same idea.
So instead of fighting each other we teamed up."
Impersonation
Gary explains that they spent about two or three years seeing all
sorts of people and coming up with lots of script ideas but it all
failed because at that stage, the show that they were thinking of
was an impersonation of Eric and Ernie, which they eventually realised
they didn’t want.
"The
public wouldn’t have accepted a pure impersonation of them"
he said. "They were just so unique."
"So
I dropped it and I thought he [David] had too. Then about two or
three years later he phoned me up and asked me to go and see a comedy
double act in Edinburgh called The Right Size (Hamish McColl and
Sean Foley) who wanted to do a play as them, but about Eric and
Ernie.
This
was the answer to their impersonation problem so they began to move
forward. McColl and Foley were joined in writing and creating the
show by Eddie Braben, who was Morecambe and Wise’s scriptwriter
for 14 years, during which time he won five Writer of the Year awards
and a BAFTA.
Then
the team scooped another great coup when they heard that Kenneth
Branagh wanted to direct it.
"This
gave it West End credibility so we now had the right balance to
really move forward" says Gary.
After
the idea took off, Gary stepped back from the writing process and
worked on the ideas instead. However, Kenneth Branagh did say that
he would take on board all Gary’s comments and script ideas,
which to his credit, says Gary, he did.
"I
did write 20 pages of changes which bless him, he did include"
says Gary. "And I really felt part of the creative process."
"Up
until then I thought they might just be paying me lip service to
keep me on board" he laughs.
Delightful
The result of all their endeavours is not only a delightful tribute
to Morecambe and Wise, but also a kind of history of British comic
styles.
"It’s
about double acts as well as Eric and Ernie" explains Gary.
"Because although the funny man gets the laughs, it takes two.
It’s a defence of the straight man really."
One
of the running jokes in Eric and Ernie’s shows had straight-man
Ernie convinced he was a great playwright, and conning guest stars
into acting in his sketches.
In
The Play What I Wrote, Joseph Alessi and Ben Keaton, who have now
taken on the roles of McColl and Foley, have been contracted to
perform a tribute to Morecambe and Wise, but one of them imagines
himself to be a playwright like Wise, and insists on doing his own
version of The Scarlet Pimpernel instead.
After
some complications (of course!), he gets his way, and a surprise
guest star (a different one each week) appears in his play.
The
show has been incredibly successful and has now had two triumphant
runs in the West End and a sell-out national tour. Gary says that
one of the elements that keeps it so popular is having this mystery
guest star.
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| Roger
Moore has notched up some 60 performances in The Play What I
Wrote |
The
Play What I Wrote is the only show with a surprise celebrity guest
at every performance.
"They
[the audience] don’t know who it’s going to be in advance"
he says, "and they are always wondering if an even bigger name
will appear."
So
far, the ‘big names’ have included celebrities as diverse
as Roger Moore, Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Kylie Minogue, Joanna
Lumley, Dawn French, Ralph Fiennes and Sting, and now stars can’t
wait to take part.
"Now
they’re clamouring to do it" reveals Gary. "Just
like they did for Eric and Ernie’s shows. What happens is that
they see one good sport doing it, see that it’s successful,
and then everyone wants to do it."
And
they were lucky enough to get a huge star for their first night
in London a couple of years ago now.
"What
really set the ball rolling was Ralph Fiennes who did the Press
Night in the West End" says Gary. "He is a wonderful actor
and played it dead straight. He was brilliant."
 It’s
impossible to leave the theatre unhappy. |
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The
Times
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But
audiences in High Wycombe needn’t worry that the biggest stars
won’t come out of London. After all, Roger Moore, who can boast
about 60 performances now, went to Milton Keynes!
And
who knows who could appear at the Swan? There’s certainly one
big name who would like to take part but who just hasn’t had
the time yet.
"Pierce
Brosnan has seen the play and loved it" reveals Gary. "He’s
said he’ll do it but it’s just difficult to commit to
a time. But I’m sure he will do it eventually."
Affection
Sadly both Morecambe and Wise have now passed on, Eric 20 years
ago and Ernie in 1999, but the affection and admiration that the
British public hold for them still lives on. They truly were, and
still are, a national institution. The reasons for this are many
and varied but Gary can also pinpoint it to the fact that it was
obvious that they loved what they were doing.
"People
are not stupid" he says. "They recognise sincerity when
they see it."
"Although
my father needed money to survive, you always felt that he’d
still do it even if he was told there was no more money in it. First
and foremost he liked making people laugh. That was his biggest
thrill. The public recognised this and saw them [Morecambe and Wise]
as old school laughter makers. The public felt safe with them."
Safe
is a good word. I still remember the ritual of sitting down to watch
their Christmas Specials (although I was extremely young of course!)
and there was something very comforting about it. There still is,
when I think back to those times.
"Yes"
says Gary. "You knew you wouldn’t be embarrassed or disappointed."
| There
was no dark side, no demons troubling him. He was confident
in his comedy and didn’t worry or fret about it. |
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Gary
Morecambe
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Gary
was just five when the Morecambe and Wise partnership first achieved
national recognition. He had just started school in Harpenden, the
Hertfordshire town where Eric's widow Joan still lives.
Life
obviously changed for him but he says that because he was so young
he doesn’t really remember what it was like without having
a famous father.
"I
had just started school and that was the only time I remember being
aware of a before and after" he says. "I was just aware
that my father was famous and it was a different ball game. But
I also remember being very wary of that. I think I had my head screwed
on even at that age."
Decent
Nowadays we often hear in retrospect about the personal difficulties
of some of our favourite comedy icons.
Tony
Hancock, Peter Sellars and Kenneth Williams in particular have been
revealed as being troubled behind their smiles. But Eric seems to
have been an all round decent and uncomplicated bloke and Gary can
confirm the truth in this, saying that he was much the same at home
as he was on the stage, albeit in a diluted form!
"Yes"
he says. "There was no dark side, no demons troubling him.
He was confident in his comedy and didn’t worry or fret about
it, so he could just be Eric at home."
"He
just enjoyed entertaining. The only frustration I saw was in between
TV series when he wasn’t doing anything. He enjoyed the holidays
but you felt that he really wanted to get back to it."
Luton
Town
Another lasting legacy from his father is Luton Town. Eric was a
Director of the Football Club and Gary reveals that they started
supporting them by accident.
"We
discovered them together after his first heart attack, when he could
start doing things but couldn’t go back to work."
"We
decided to go and see one of the local football teams play and it
was just chance that Watford were away and Luton were playing at
home!"
"I
still remember that first match" he continues. "Luton
beat Oldham 4-0.
I still keep an eye on Luton now although I live in Bristol."
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| Joseph
Alessi and Ben Keaton in The Play What I Wrote |
Gary
has many anecdotes of life with Eric, enough for a book in fact,
which coincidentally he has written! But due to the limitations
of time and space I ask if he has one lasting memory.
"I
remember that we used to go to Portugal for holidays as we had a
villa there" he recalls.
"He
[Eric] always walked around, inside and out, in shorts, a string
vest and socks. It was an extraordinary look and I just used to
think - ‘if his millions of fans could see him now!’ It’s
an enduring memory that still comes to me weekly."
While
this image lives on in Gary’s mind, The Play What I Wrote ensures
that the legend that was Britain's most popular comedy act endures
in the minds of the great British public.
"It
shows the power of Eric and Ernie and that their memory lives on"
he says.
Read
our review >>
See our Morecambe and Wise gallery >>
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