|
Search this site
powered by FreeFind |
|
|
The show tells the story of Don and what happens to him over a two year period.
The story starts in 1966 with Don played by Phil Reed going out with Michelle played by Maria Lawson. All Michelle wants is to settle down and get married but Don feels there is more to life and wants to go off to Art College. During a summer job at the Ford Plant Don meets the wild and free-spirited Kathy played Emily Gardner. Kathy leads Don astray and he gets arrested for possession of drugs that Kathy gave him to sell and at the end of the first act Kathy leaves Don to go to London with Marty (Jonathan Markwood), lead singer of Marty and the Matadors.
The second act sees the story moved onto 1968 and flower power is in full swing and all the cast apart from Maria and Simon Jessop wear wigs and flares to reflect the period. Don meets up with Kathy again and it�s obvious he still has feelings for her but she is still involved with Marty, who is still playing with his band although they have changed their name and are very involved in the use of drugs. Don is studying at Art College and has cut himself off from all his old friends, tragedy strikes when Marty dies in a motorbike accident and Kathy is seriously injured.
Don goes to see her in hospital and discovers she has broken her back and is paralysed from the neck down, he tells her that he will look after her but Kathy says that her life is over and asks Don to end her life, to start with he refuses but she says that if he loves her then he will do it. It ends with him holding a pillow and the news that Kathy has died from Asphyxiation.
The story ends with Bob, Don�s best friend saying that he had married Michelle and how Don had disappeared without a trace.
There are some excellent performances in the show. James Earl Adair plays the older Bob and narrates the story and the show is really set in the present day and the scenes in the 60�s are Bob thinking back to that time. James also has some funny cameo appearances as he plats many of the other small parts in the show. He also gets to belt out My Generation at the end of the show and plats the guitar, trombone and drums.
Maria Lawson is a revelation as Michelle, I didn�t really rate her performance in Private Lives but she really comes into her own in this. She has a great pop voice which she shows off to really good effect in the songs she gets to sing.
Emily Gardner as Kathy is just sensational, she acts amazingly and has a great singing voice, those final scenes in the hospital are really emotional and it brought a tear to my eye.
Simon Jessop is really funny as Don�s best friend Bob and he and Phil sing a great duet of Friday on my Mind. Also watch out for Simon and Maria in a very funny scene in the cinema and the very funny reaction from Jane Milligan at the end of it.
Nick Lashbrook is a whiz on the drums and he also plays the trumpet and does a wonderful piece of flute playing. It�s just a pity that Nick doesn�t have a few more lines during the show as Dancer is really only one of the musicians � if you�re a fan of Nick�s watch out for the second half as Nick is topless.
Wendy Parkin and Jane Milligan are excellent as two more members of the Matadors, Jane having some very funny cameo parts and Wendy showing what a fantastic guitarist she is.
I�m not over keen on Jonathan Markwood as Marty; I had problems hearing what he was singing a lot of the time which was a pity.
Phil Reed is totally amazing as Don, singing so much stronger than ever before and acting like I had never seen him before. Think that this is such a great part for him. He doesn�t play his instruments, guitar, flute and keyboards, that much and when he does he tends to be stood at the back of the stage so you can�t see him. He can really belt out those sixties songs and my personal favourite is Night�s in White Satin and him and Simon have a lot of fun with Friday on my Mind. If you�re a fan of Phil�s then you will love the bed scene in the first act as he only wears underwear and socks so you get to see his body.
Scott Finlay makes up the cast as another of the Matadors; he plays the bass and gets to take lead vocals on a couple of the songs. Scott also performs many of the off stage voices for people and those are very funny.
In conclusion Keep on Running is an excellent show with loads of great songs and I can�t recommend it enough.
Andreya Browse
The images, text and design of this website are subject to copyright and no part of the site is to be reproduced without the permission of the webmaster