REVIEW: Harrogate Theatre's latest play is 'hugely fun and utterly entertaining'

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Lauren Crisp is a book editor, writer and keen follower of arts and culture. She reviews theatre and cultural events in and around the district in her spare time.

You can contact Lauren at laurencrispwriter@gmail.com. 

When Nella, daughter of hugely wealthy American Theodore Racksole, finds that steak and beer are not on the menu at The Grand Babylon Hotel, a luxurious resort on London’s Embankment, her father does what any respectable railroad millionaire would do: he buys the entire hotel.

But the Racksoles soon find their new-found proprietorship to be somewhat of a burden, with not only steak, but disappearance, kidnap and murder on the menu.

Produced by Stoke-on-Trent-based theatre company Claybody, in association with New Vic Theatre, the play is adapted from the 1902 novel by Arnold Bennett, one of Stoke’s most famous literary alumni.

Claybody’s Deborah McAndrew and Conrad Nelson bring the author's work to the stage with an incredibly inventive touch. McAndrew’s script is razor-sharp, accompanied by Nelson’s super-slick direction, which sees a cast of five play 15 different characters, and which takes us from opulent hotel rooms and spooky wine cellars, on a high-speed chase along the river, and through secret underground tunnels.

This is a slightly (no, very) bonkers, rip-roaring ride that is part comedy-thriller, part Carry On, with a bit of Fawlty Towers thrown into the mix, but mostly, it is one of a kind. Intermingling farce, slapstick, mime, and of course, a little bit of romance, the play becomes one big fun, frenetic game of cat and mouse, choreographed with aplomb.

The small cast is something quite special. Michael Hugo is instantly captivating as the hotel’s maître d’, Jules, and later received riotous laughs when he played (among a multitude of others) a Belgian ticket collector with Gauloises-ravaged vocal cords.

Thomas Cotran, also in a multi-character role, not only sings and dances beautifully, but can apparently shift, at the drop of a hat, between an Italian chef with a penchant for opera and embalming, and a romancing Prussian prince.

Shelley Atkinson shines in her multiple roles, too, particularly as the terrifying Nanny Heidi. Father-daughter duo Theodore (Bill Champion) and Nella (Alice Pryor) are the only one-part roles: a smart choice, allowing a steady baseline amid the organised chaos that otherwise reigns.

What goes on backstage is just as crucial in this production’s brilliant realisation, with sleek set changes, sound and lighting effects timed to perfection and a simple score that accompanies the action; events become scenic, film-like. It’s one smooth operation.

Hugely fun, utterly entertaining and imagined so very creatively, The Grand Babylon Hotel has it all. Catch it if you can.

The Grand Babylon Hotel is on at Harrogate Theatre until Saturday, April 4.