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AN HOUR AND A HALF LATE PDF Print E-mail
The Churchill Theatre Sept 25 to 30

By Anna Crystal and Maria Alexander

For an entertaining and uplifting evening run, don’t walk, to The Churchill Theatre in Bromley to get tickets for this gem called ‘An Hour and a Half Late.’  When we read the  coming attractions and saw that Mel Smith had adapted the play by Gerald Sibleyras himself we had our first inkling that this would be a sharp, witty comedy and we were not proved wrong.  This play has just the right balance of ascebic wit, insight into the human condition and slapstick.
Mel Smith is in rare form but also Belinda Lange is a treasure and the perfect foil to his earthy, and sometimes outrageous character.  They completment each other wonderfully with hilarious results.
The story is about a couple facing retirement and the dreaded empty nest syndrome after 30 years of marriage.  This all hits them just as they are getting ready to leave for an important dinner party.  Over the next hour and a half they fight, laugh, share affection and have a food fight.  
Then they face the prospect of the bleak and empty years ahead of them.  Mel’s character decides that he will dedicate the next 30 years to overeating.  Belinda’s character counters with wondring if he will ask to be buried with a deep friend Mars Bar on one side and a fry up on the other.
A wonderful night was had thanks to Jenny and Helen of the press department at the Churchill and at the end of the show there were several well earned curtain calls after which everyone in the audience could see that this will continue its very successful tour around the county and we would not be surprised if it didn’t end up in the West End.  Ten stars.
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