The Fitzrovia Radio Hour
written and performed by Alix Dunmore, Jon Edgley Bond,
Tom Mallaburn, Phil Mulryne, Martin Pengelly and Alex Ratcliffe
This show is available for touring in 2012.
Fresh from three critically acclaimed London residencies, and two sell-out years at the Edinburgh Fringe, The Fitzrovia Radio Hour heads out on its first UK tour. The show's writer/performers use new material to recreate the unique spirit of 1940’s radio plays for a modern audience, brilliantly evoking a dinner-jacketed age of casual imperialism and stiff upper lips.
Performing with cut-glass theatricality, blending homage and satire, The Fitzrovia Radio Hour mixes the chauvinist attitudes of 1940s Britain with sharp contemporary humour to produce a heady comic cocktail. Refuting the claim that the well-crafted written word is dead, and proving it still looks its best in a dinner jacket, they present a selection of rip-roaring tales: all brand new yet delightfully reminiscent of ration-book Britain. Witness multiple types of cabbage simulating various forms of physical violence, a Bakelite hairdryer imitating a heating torch and a desk fan becoming an aeroplane.
The troupe began in 2008, when founding members restaged 1940s radio plays from America. They enjoyed wearing pencil moustaches and dinner jackets so much that they were inspired to expand the troupe and write original material in 1940's style. Since then they have won widespread acclaim and performed extensively to sold-out houses in London including a year-long, monthly residency at Shakespeare’s Globe (Swan at The Globe / Underglobe) and several residencies at The Last Days of Decadence, Shoreditch (most recently with two brand new shows throughout June and July 2010). Find out more about the company by visiting their official website here.
What the papers say...
'Absolutely spiffing show that recreates the innocent, clipped, Bulldog Drummond spirit of Forties live radio drama, with a skilled company of six stepping up their retro mics to unfold ripping yarns.'
**** Daily Telegraph'The stories are as sharply honed as the cut-glass accents in which they are performed.'
**** Whatsonstage.com'A ripping set of yarns... a triumph of visual comedy'
**** TimeOut Critics' Choice'Lovingly recreated spoofs of Forties radio drama do not come better than this. The gifted young ensemble both evoke and satirise a long-gone era when unseen performers wore tuxedos in a quickfire trilogy involving a battling boxer, a haunted house and a disappearing Eiffel Tower. Smart gags and smart clothes too.'
Evening Standard - Critics' Choice'Dramatic entertainment redolent of a bygone era… recreates its chosen era with just the right mixture of fondness and irreverence... jolly good show, chaps!'
The Guardian
