When fairground life is far from fair

By [wramsey]

His hair may be silvery and his movements a little more stately these days.

But in the new musical All The Fun Of The Fair, David Essex shows he still has the presence and wit to charm an audience.

The production, built around tracks from the singer's back-catalogue, is set in a travelling fair during the late 1970s.

David plays Levi, an ageing fair owner with a zen-like calm and a whole heap of problems to contend with.

First off there's his feisty son, Jack (Paul-Ryan Carberry) who feels the fair is hopelessly trapped in the past and wants to update its attractions.

Then there's the flirty attentions of Rosa (Louise English), the fortune-teller who has her eye on Levi.

What with the threatening behaviour of the local hard-nut Harvey (David Burrows) – who turns nasty when Jack falls for his daughter – it's a miracle that Levi stays so unruffled.

But the drama of the show lies in this tension between the fairground folk and the locals – alongside Levi's struggle to cope with the death of his wife.

David turns in a strong performance, contrasting the calm exterior he shows to others with occasional flares of anger.

And when it came to the singing – greeted with whoops by many middle-aged females in the audience – his voice proved pleasantly warm.

Stand-out performances from the rest of the cast included Louise English as the wilful Rosa and Barry Bloxham as Druid – a thug with an artful Cockney swagger about him.

All this would have counted for little, however, had the show itself not worked.

The danger with musicals written around existing songs is something of a forced atmosphere – with the writers jamming in references in order to lead through to the next track.

But, given the range offered by David's extensive back-catalogue, some four decades of recordings, and a decent story line, it all hangs together.

Written by the Bridlington-born Jon Conway, who worked as a stall-holder at Hull Fair during his teens, the show has an enjoyably gritty atmosphere.

This view of fair-ground life is far from romantic, with the stall-holders harassed and mocked by the visiting public.

And while there's a tough conclusion, it's all balanced by a nice line in patter.

"Are you a moron?", Levi asks the thuggish Druid.

"No" he says, "I'm a Catholic."

Backed up by a suitably garish stage-set, lit with multi-coloured bulbs and featuring an ingenious dodgem car sequence, this is a bitter-sweet taste of fairground life.

All The Fun Of The Fair runs at Hull New Theatre until Saturday. Tickets, at £8 to £29.50, can be booked by calling (01482) 226655