Drop the Dead Donkey – the Reawakening
Theatre Royal Brighton
Until Saturday 9th March as part of its national tour.
There was a lot of love in the Theatre Royal Brighton last night as the cast of the 1990s TV comedy Drop the Dead Donkey reunited on stage to an appreciative audience keen to see this popular programme brought up to date and onstage.
The original TV programme aired between 1990 and 1996. It centred around Globelink News Channel and the staff that worked there. The programme was unusual in that it was recorded weekly, extremely close to the broadcast date so the news featured was very recent and topical.
In the stage show ‘Drop the Dead Donkey the Reawakening’, the original team are brought together by a mystery sponsor amongst a backdrop of algorithms, AI and fake news.
The majority of the original cast are on hand, and you soon remember how endearing they all are. Expertly written by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin, the characters are older but not necessarily wiser. As old frustrations bubble to the surface and friendships are rekindled ‘Truth News’ is launched. Can the team keep their integrity, beat the ratings, stop infighting and the big question, who is their mystery investor?
The new additions (Julia Hills as Mairead the investigative reporter and Kerena Jagpal as Rita the weather girl) fitted into the storyline well, although it sometimes felt as though the play was relying too heavily on the original characters a little too much.
Despite this being a touring show (lots more chances to see it) the script is regularly tweaked (as per the TV show) so that the news is current and gains big laughs from the audience.
Is it a big nostalgia trip? Gloriously so. Is it relevant to today – yes! Would it appeal to a new audience…? Probably, although there were not many in the audience last night who didn’t have fond memories of the TV show. There is definitely scope to bring the show or something similar back to our screens. It felt good to laugh at the absurdity of current world news.
Reviewer: Sammi O’Neill
Photo credit: Manuel Harlan
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Original Cast
Joy: Susannah Doyle
Gus: Robert Duncan
Helen: Ingrid Lacey
Dave: Neil Pearson
George: Jeff Rawle
Damien: Stephen Tomkinson
Sally: Victoria Wicks
New Characters
Mairead: Julia Hills
Rita: Kerena Jagpal
(Original cast members Haydn Gwynne and David Swift who have sadly passed were fondly remembered).