Review of Jeffrey Holland’s one man show at the Edinburgh Festival, Pleasance Courtyard (venue 33) on now until the 25th of August.
Jeffrey Holland plays an aging Stan Laurel, talking to his friend and long time partner Oliver Hardy in an imagined visit to the latter’s sick bed. We don’t see or hear from the stroke victim Hardy; he is represented by an empty bed frame.
This is a touching and sad piece as the two men are at the end of their long careers: Hardy critically ill and Laurel looking back on their careers and lives with some pride and some regrets. Yet the play also celebrates through Laurel’s recollections the 100+ films these pals and comedy partners made. We learn that Laurel, despite playing the dumb one on film, was the brains behind the duo: writing many of the gags and scripts, directing and producing.
It is a credit to the script and Jeffrey Holland’s acting that a one man performance with a chair and a bed frame for props kept the audience totally engaged.
A lovely piece that deserves more outings.