The ‘Eric’ shows have been a staple of the New Vic’s programme for over two decades now. Fans voted for their top 2 favourite productions to return for 2024 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Eric shows. The first of these is 2017’s Strictly Eric, now playing at the New Vic.
Having been to several Eric shows now, it’s clear to me why these shows are such a success. All ‘Eric’ shows, at their heart, can be drilled down to a key formula – a blend of a story, comedy and music. The show knows what its audiences want, and it provides this aptly. For this reason, it’s no surprise that it has somewhat of a cult following, with masses of people attending the show for production after production. The fan adoration for this show is abundantly clear – for example, key actors walk onstage to rapturous applause. In addition, Laura Sheppard’s finale song, ‘Build Me up Buttercup’, elicits a warm response, as it always does, with some members of the audience bringing along their own buttercup props.
Where, perhaps, Strictly Eric hits a brick wall, for me, is in the reason for its popularity. At times, the script lacks funny jokes which work for all audience members. There are countless one-liners which require artificial and tangential dialogue in their setup for little payoff. While there is undoubtedly lots of wit in these jokes, they don’t always work. There are also a bizarrely high number of sex jokes and innuendo which is somewhat lewd in the quantity used here. At times, the comedy feels silly, repetitive and rarely effective. The show plays to what it knows will be a hit with its audience, rather than attempting something different.
That aside, there is much to celebrate in this production. Those loyal to the show will know that real highlight of the production is the music and fans of this will not be disappointed. The band sound amazing and the cast play the instruments with a sense of ease. Each member of the cast who sings are excellent – there is not a bad vocal performance throughout. Particular shoutout must go to Carly Cook, Alan Howell and Harvey James who own the stage with their phenomenal vocal performances. The cast are complemented by some excellent costumes and an apt lighting design. In addition, the cast work very hard in light of a lack of props throughout to help build the story.
Similarly, the actors work hard to deliver convincing performances. The whole cast deliver their roles effortlessly. In particular, Laura Sheppard as Brenda offers a very strong acting performance throughout – a testament to her years of dedication to these productions and other acting endeavours. Harvey James has excellent comedic timing and has the audience howling with just a glance.
However, I cannot help but feel the women in this production are let down. Carly Cook has a tremendous voice and offers a great acting portrayal as Shirley and Shea Roberts as Claudia stuns with her dancing, but both characters are underused in this production’s narrative – in fact, Roberts’ stage time is almost non-existent. Whilst the story is not intended to be particularly deep, I do think that the marginalisation of the female characters in the piece is problematic. Even leading lady Laura Sheppard plays a cook who is berated for being poor at her job. The other two female characters are the features of male gaze, swapping male partners interchangeably as though they cannot stand alone. Needless to say, the show does not pass the Bechdel test. Again, it plays to what it thinks its audience want: a throwback to the societal structures of sitcoms from the 80s.
Overall, fans of the shows will love this production – it has everything you would expect from an Eric show. Whilst narratively, there is some room for improvement, there is something for all audiences in the show. Even those unfamiliar with the production’s extensive history will love its excellent music from the 60s and 70s making Strictly Eric a fun and enjoyable night out of at the New Vic.
Strictly Eric plays at the New Vic until Saturday 3rd August. David Graham Entertainment Ltd will be back later this year at the New Vic with Eric’s Full Monty.
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