REVIEW: “Dead On Cue”

Tony Homer reviews Dead On Cue by Mark Carey (Giles Shenton Productions) 

The Ghostliness of Hamlet

Mark Carey’s latest one-man show is not a reflection on the state of snooker (the World Championship coincides with this performance) rather it has theatrical undertones. More specifically it is a thriller or mystery surrounding two productions of Hamlet at the King’s Theatre, Shaftesbury separated by 65 years. Act 1 has us in 1958 and the basement dressing room (number 9 a clue to strange occurrences?) where Bertie Tydnall prepares to be the gravedigger. 

Two key elements of the simple set are a red curtain doorway and a dressing room mirror. A skull and spade are downstage right. Bertie enters ready for action but quickly intersperses Shakespeare with his own gags. “She was only the gravedigger’s daughter but she’d lie under any old sod”, one of many memorable asides. Tyndall has been consigned to the basement partly because no one else will use it but also because he is not a ‘legit’ actor. His father, Edward ‘The King’ was a music hall entertainer and this was the profession that brought Bertie his modicum of fame. Particularly with his show ‘The Face In The Mirror’. And it is this element that provides the opportunity for mystery, suspense and supernatural activity. After 10 years in the trade, following the end of the Second World War which gave Bertie tinnitus after a bomb explosion, he has found himself playing all the fools in the cannon from Feste to Bottom (gags abound). 

Now he is part of a postmodern production where traditional declamation is replaced with regional accents. Claude (Claudius) Mason is the overrated young Dane who hogs technical rehearsals at the expense of Act V where Bertie awaits his entrance. He is anxious and distracts himself with recording his brief life story on tape for his yet to be born daughter. Rosemary (for remembrance) is the fruit of his partnership with his agent and wife Trudy (Gertrude?) Fyfe. As his story is told and his disgruntlement with Claude continues we head towards a dramatic and spooky end to the first half.

Cut to 2023 and Hamish (geddit?) is preparing his art in the same dressing room working alongside the aged Claude Mason who now plays the Ghost of Hamlet’s Father, a further clue to the heart of the mystery. The set is now busier with extra posters and notice-boards, books and scattered rubbish. Hamish is obsessed with the previous incumbent who went missing after the first night performance. The entwining of Shakespeare with the present day continues within the dialogue and character names, a pleasure for those in the know. Hamish manages to get hold of Bertie’s old trunk which offers up the explanation for past events. The denouement could possibly have included the sound of gunshot as hinted at before and during the show. And a lot of loose ends were tied up in a short space of time, before the creepy finale.

But Carey is totally at ease and brimming with confidence, a master at holding the attention of the audience. It is a demanding role, involving a command of Shakespeare and the use of several regional accents to define various characters, and one which warrants a larger attendance than present on this night. But all were thoroughly entertained and many remained afterwards to chat to the actor. 

It is certainly worthy of the applause for a 147 clearance.