Privates On Parade – A review

Privates on Parade, a musical farce rife with semi-gratuitous nudity and camp song-and-dance numbers, is not the sort of play one would expect Michael Grandage to stage. A star-studded Shakespeare production would have been the obvious choice as his new company takes to the London stage for the first time. The risk that Grandage has taken is palpable in every bawdy, mildly inappropriate scene. With a script that is already OTT, any directorial excesses could easily have had a disastrous effect. The fine line that Grandage parades his actors along yields a very strange sort of titillation. One cannot help but imagine that the whole thing is about to take a dramatic (although surely hysterical) tumble.

It does not. Instead, it triumphs in a medley of farcical comedy and dramatic sentimentality with a British feel.

Some of the credit for this success has to go to the unmissable star of the show, Simon Russell Beale. Beale gives a fabulous performance as the fabulous Acting Captain Terri Dennis, posted in Malaya for the entertainment of the peace-time conscripts. Beale as the transvestite Terri Dennis is the ultimate in campiness. He displays a sense of comic timing that results in subtle moments of absolute hilarity. For one of his numbers, Beale impersonates Marlene Dietrich. Without a doubt, the general impression of this nicely rotund man with rather disproportionately large shoulders in a tight blue dress and suspenders, singing in an exaggerated German accent, is very funny. However, it is the attention to detail – the little stumble as Terri/ Marlene struggles to get her legs around the chair or the grimaces she gives to her co-stars when they blunder – that truly enliven this production. Beale also manages to convey a true sense of tragedy.

Although Beale, partially as a result of the loudness of Terri Dennis’ persona, tends to upstage anyone standing next to him, the rest of the cast are excellent in their own right. Each character has a real personality, perfectly drawn out by the actors, to such an extent that the individual characters are not farcical in themselves.

It was also amusing to see Sam Swainsbury, who we’d interviewed only a couple of hours earlier, now in pretty short army-issue shorts, totally transfigured into a foul-mouthed singing-dancing sensation.

The play does try to touch upon some serious topics: amongst them are the useless nature of the peace-keeping mission in the colonies, Imperialism in general, the oppression of women, the nature of leadership, discrimination against homosexuals and more. In retrospect, this is a bit much for the essence of the play to carry and perhaps the reason why the second half fell slightly flatter than the first. On the other hand, the drama worked well in the first act, providing the same service that ‘comic relief’ would do in a tragedy.

The stage and the colourful costumes – white satin for Beale – is understated and provides the perfect backdrop to the the 1950s musical style (think South Pacific – sentimental musical – with swearing).

There are some sensationally funny moments in Privates on Parade and I would suggest one take advantage of the many £10 tickets that this company has to offer.