Silly cow

I am writing this review with great trepidation as this play is very much about taking revenge on a reviewer!  Silly Cow is a satirical play written by Ben Elton.

Doris Wallis played by Hannah Conway, is the reviewer in question.  I very much got the feeling it was played very much with Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous in mind, and if this is the fact then it was a clever decision, it walked the line between melodrama and realism, but it reminded me of some people I know in the industry especially in the 90’s and early 2000’s.  She made sure that the punch lines were delivered, and I was incredibly impressed she stayed completely in character from beginning to end.  There was no way any audience member could have sympathy for her comeuppance.

Peggy was Doris’s assistant who in the end turned out to be the actress Doris wrote a horrible review about.  Emily Hill played this well, there was a clear difference between Emily and the actress she turned out to be in the end.  The reveal was done very well, and the audience did not see it coming until the fluffy handcuffs were put on Doris.  There were good vocal differences between the two characters and a lot of thought had been put into the differences.

Ollie Moorhead played Douglas, the accountant that turned out to be an actor in the finale of the play.  Accents are so easy to get wrong, diction and dialect are vital especially with an Irish accent.  Congratulations Ollie, what a great job, he kept the accent and dialect easily understandable, and it made the reveal at the end, even more well done. 

George Christy played Eduardo, and if I am honest my opinion changed as the play went on.  I understand that George was playing an actor who was playing the Columbian Eduardo, but as was previously mentioned accents are important.  When George was Eduardo and was speaking, I found it difficult to understand his dialogue, and there were people around me in the audience saying the same thing.  It is so important in a play that all dialogue is understood, However, when it was revealed that Eduardo was a character being played by an actor, George’s performance changed and as the actor his diction was great, it is just a shame I could not understand Eduardo.

Matt Grey was not only the director but also played the part of Sidney.  First, of all hats off to Matt for taking on a big role and directing the piece.  I understand the original actor unfortunately had to withdraw from playing the role, however no one would be none the wiser as Matt was excellent in the role, great London accent and the reveal with the hair been messed up, brilliant somehow it worked.   Also, I felt Matt’s vision was clear and well thought out from a director’s perspective.

The set was great, I loved the detail of the flat, from the plants to the intercom, it was very well thought out, it looked like a 90’s flat complete with fluorescent neon lights!

Thank you to Mark Weatherbed for his hospitality.

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