Biting comment on everyday life and its institutions is winningly delivered by this young, talented foursome from the Manchester-based Northern Youth Theatre. Undertaking a vast array of characters this is a confident cast and more importantly a funny one. In quick succession they tackle Lidl supermarkets, football hooligans and Conservative myopia, delivering an astounding 20 sketches in only 45 minutes.

The strength of this performance lies not only in the equally capable cast, but also in the intelligent and often absurdist humour of the script. Written by Spectator contributor Richard Kelly, it offers an excitingly quirky take on tried-and-tested comic scenarios, such as funeral parlours, football pundits and the Eurovision song Contest.

Particular highlights are the rendition of Blondie’s ‘Hanging on the Telephone’ adapted to address the modern day phenomenon and nuisance that is cold calling; and an insight into the mind of a round-robin writer, with an outstandingly deadpan delivery from cast member Caroline Major.

‘Not the Footlights’ is an apt title for a company who rely on their own talent rather than the received reputation of performances gone by. Compared to my last viewing of the Cambridge troupe I can confirm that this production is certainly ‘Not the Footlights’: it is in fact edgier, slicker and more importantly funnier that their contemporaries have proved to be in recent Festivals.

Who: Northern Youth Theatre: Not the Footlights
Where: Sweet on the Grassmarket
When: 11:45 -12:30; 8th-20th August (except 14th)

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This entry was posted on Sunday, August 14th, 2005 at 1:05 pm and is filed under Reviews from 2005, Stand Up Reviews 2005. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.