In the 1990s, Strut & Fret were the darlings of both the London and Edinburgh fringe, with five-star reviews and sell-out audiences. In 1999, they staged their swansong, Look Behind You by Daniel Wain, at the Tabard Theatre, Chiswick. It was an artistic and commercial hit, with the script published by Josef Weinberger and subsequently staged by other theatre companies across the UK.
Now, 25 years later, both Strut & Fret and Look Behind You are back, and at the Tabard again!
Writer Daniel Wain has radically revised and modernised his “beautifully original”, “cracking” and “razor-sharp” original script. Gone are the payphone and fan mail, to be replaced by mobiles and social media. More importantly, the show previously described as “Noises Off in Pantoland” now has far more satirical sting, more political punch. It’s still very funny and poignant, but now also critiques the state of modern Britain.
Look Behind You follows the ups, and largely downs, of a professional theatre company staging the stock panto Dick Whittington in a godforsaken seaside town. While the ‘happy-ever-after’ panto plays onstage, we see the behind-the-scenes reality. The Britannia Theatre is falling down. Nothing works. There’s no money, no support, no hope. This is the end of the road, the end of the pier. The developers and foreign investors are circling…
Look Behind You is not only a contemporary metaphor for the state of our nation, but, more merrily, an antidote to the classic seasonal slush. Staged in January, immediately after everyone else has produced their traditional panto, it reveals the grit and graft behind the glitz and glitter. Is the nation’s sweetheart really so sweet? How can one entertain other people’s kids hundreds of miles from one’s own? Is Dick really an ideal partner for Pussy?
The theme and tone of the original Look Behind You returns as strong as before, but Daniel Wain’s considerable rewrite reflects how much has changed in the intervening 25 years. Wain himself returns, not just as writer but as actor (theatre manager Sam and his panto alter ego Sarah the Cook), with Cait Chidgey (now Cait Hart Dyke) also reprising her role from a quarter-century ago, although her Russian ‘Bond girl’ is now a reality TV star from Essex! Designer Richard Evans recreates his original “West End-worthy” (The Stage) set.
In addition, Marc Brenner, the director of the original 1999 Look Behind You and now one of British theatre’s leading photographers, returns to shoot the new production, while Flavia Fraser-Cannon, an assistant stage manager on the 1999 show, returns as PR consultant. So much has changed, some things remain the same…
Look Behind You is at Tabard Theatre Wednesday 17th January to Saturday 3rd February 2024
