Great reviews for Spike Milligan's Puckoon - the show that I co-devised, scored, and am currently appearing in, are coming in thick and fast ...
The Stage (UK's theatre industry paper) said: "Grave robbers, a Jewish doctor, a poet/poacher, ragged-trousered Republicans, border guards, angry priests and boy scouts - just a cross section of the rich tapestry of human life which populates the small rural village of Puckoon. It took the satirical genius of Spike Milligan to identify the hugely comic possibilities lurking beneath the surface of the 1924 Border Commission’s machinations to draw a frontier between Britain (in the shape of Northern Ireland) and what was then known as the Irish Free State. The dreaded deed was done late one night in a bar, when the locals and the commissioners pushed and shoved a pencil line right down the centre of the village, thereby dividing farmhouse from barn, husband from wife, bars from benches, graves from other graves. Border posts and barbed wire fences were immediately erected and the presentation of a passport became a necessity for Christian burial on the wrong side of the line.
Vincent Higgins, Zoe Seaton, Paul Boyd and the company have clearly had a rare old time in adapting Milligan’s internationally successful novel into a rip-roaring piece of physical theatre which is hugely entertaining. In the role of the confused writer, Boyd provides the on-stage compass, supplying ad hoc music and script for the haphazard journey of old Dan Milligan (Jack Quinn), whose cycling exploits along the border are the cause of many an unforeseen disaster.
The other four actor/musicians rarely leave the black box of a stage, zipping between costumes and characters like men possessed. Conleth White’s clever lighting is an integral part of a glossy production which looks great, even when outrageous events threaten to get in the way."
The Irish Times (Irish national daily paper) said: "When director Zoe Seaton and musical maestro Paul Boyd get together, something a little crazy often results. On this occasion, their collaboration includes Vincent Higgins, whose writing credits are fast catching up with his acting achievements. Their collective gaze has fallen enthusiastically on the madcap genius of Spike Milligan, comedian, writer, musician, playwright, poet and Goon. His best-selling novel Puckoon has already been adapted into a film; now Seaton, Boyd and Higgins have turned it into a fast-moving, Pythonesque piece of theatre.
In the spirit of Milligan’s off-the-wall satirical genius and beady observations of the human condition, they have brought to life the grotesquely comic populace of Puckoon, a rural village that has fallen foul of the 1924 Boundary Commission’s creation of a new frontier between Britain and the Irish Free State. In the role of writer, Boyd spearheads proceedings, scripting the whimsical wanderings of old Dan Milligan (Jack Quinn) along the Border on a rickety bicycle.
The problem for the people of Puckoon is that, late on a Friday evening in the pub, their little patch of Ireland was divided, when the dreaded commissioners’ pencil was pushed and shoved down the centre of the village. Now the erection of Border posts and barbed wire means even funerals cannot be held without passports being produced, a situation that deteriorates from farce to slapstick to total chaos.
The six actors switch roles and costumes at dizzying speed and with relish for the task. Milligan’s vision is an oddball entertainment."
The Belfast Teleraph (Northern Irish national daily paper) said: "Anyone who has ever read Spike Milligan’s comedy classic will have dismissed as impossible the idea of transferring such slapstick madness to the stage. The story of the town of Puckoon, rent in two by the Boundary Commission, is brim-full of laughs – but its forays down comic cul-de-sacs often turn a straightforward story into a series of madcap meanderings. A deathbed scene featuring a handful of Jewish doctors anyone? How about a running joke about legs?
Unlikely as it seems on paper, Big Telly’s Zoe Seaton, Vincent Higgins and Paul Boyd, have breathed new life into Puckoon, bringing the central character of cycling Dan Milligan (Jack Quinn) to life. The trio have imposed a certain degree of discipline on the townsfolk, who are forced to obtain passports to bury their dead, travel to another country to cuddle with the missus, and sidestep border guards in search of a drink. Think League of Gentlemen meets Monty Python.
Boyd plays the role of writer, and literally conducts proceedings from his keyboard at the centre of the stage, while providing live accompaniment to the story. He is supported by four actor/musicians, who play a clutch of characters and tunes between them – from a midget’s widow to greedy priest, soft-handed captain, boozy barmaid and one-legged war hero. Seaton’s watertight direction brings some much-needed element of control to this comic chaos. Even the silliest of Milligan’s surreal wisecracks raises a chuckle and a good time was had by all … except the midget, of course".
The Coleraine Chronicle (North West weekly paper) said: "After “Love and Madness” and their efforts the previous week a capacity audience enjoyed that old Coleraine firm, 'Big Telly' giving a robust revival of Spike Milligan’s comedy 'Puckoon'. The adaptation was by practiced hand Vincent Higgins, and the pace was break-neck, while amid the general Goon Show nonsense the narrative was still discernable. Ms.Seaton chose a knockabout music hall style where the characters declaimed loudly and (blessed boon!) distinctly to us, the fortunate audience. No mumbling here or excuse to snooze!
But 'Puckoon' is more than a bundle of delicious “Oirish” inconsequential nonsense. Composed well before the recent troubles, it concerns an Irish village at the moment of Partition, with a rich run of characters from “Big House” Col. Clarke, a redoubtable PP, assorted RIC men (one inexplicably Chinese), a cockney Jewish doctor, and still-resolute IRA men to the bemused Milligan himself. First came a farcical drawing of the boundary, where the slip of a pen put the cemetery in Ulster, the Chapel and pub in the new-minted Eire. Then came scenes where the dead have to have passports to be buried, IRA men coerce a none too reluctant PP to conduct a funeral for a load of explosive, before escaping in disguise as Roman Senators in “Julius Caesar” mounted at a Boy Scout rally. That was only the half of it!
All this was presided over by the composer Paul Boyd at the piano, complete with Lizst-like flowing hair and floppy bow. He was an ace MC, keeping us up to date on the plot behind the confusions, commanding the luckless Milligan and demonstrating his mastery of the piano all with great sense of purpose. In short, 'Big Telly' and a dream team have a hit on their hands. The audience cheered and cheered. If this had been mounted on either side of the Border five years ago it would have deeply offended at least one overly-sensitive political party. Thankfully all were now united in helpless laughter."
