THEATRE REVIEW: CRASH MORGAN AND THE CURSE OF THE LOST TOTEM We arrived at the venue a tad early. It was The Lion and the Unicorn, a pub theatre in Kentish Town and I had travelled in from the sticks, where theatres are rather larger, council funded affairs that seem to offer only tribute bands and nights of wrestling or stand up comedy rather than any actual plays. My companion that evening was none other than the metropolitan-dwelling editor of this very website, the esteemable Alex Finch. We weren't yet able to take our seats, so ventured instead into the pub itself and were pleased to find it authentically downmarket, with a local atmosphere
	chain-pubs strive in vain to achieve. Naturally the cask-conditioned ales were all off, but that was okay because there's nothing quite as bad as that alcohol-induced need to visit the toilets striking 5-minutes into Act One. This was primarily a locals bar, but not in an American Werewolf in London sense. Still, the 15-year old girls by the pool table were definitely regulars, as were the mixture of working and long-retired men hovering round the bar. After a round of soft drinks the call came out to take our places. Up the stairs we went, past an alarming range of posters for fringe productions such as "Joanna's Song by Joanna Thompson". The venue itself was an intimate little converted function room with plenty of character lent by gothic murals punctuating the otherwise jet black walls. Soon the proceedings were underway and the entire cast trouped out, taking their seats behind two old fashioned microphones. I am pleased to report that Crash Morgan and the Curse of the Lost Totem was a delight. Presented as a recording of a 1930s adventure serial, this comedic pastiche of everything from Flash Gordon to Frankenstein breezed along at a captivating pace, punctuating an interesting story with plenty of laughs. Because of the radio setting, Crash could easily have been static and boring, but fortunately the people here knew what they were doing and the whole thing was tremendous fun. Crash himself was ably played by Battered Suitcase regular Gavin Sheffield, with Siobhan Croll nothing less than fantastic as Crash's feisty ex-girlfriend, Glenn Fairweather. The supporting cast were memorably varied, and particular credit should go to Mike O'Doherty for his near-perfect impersonation of Peter Lorre, although Ian Wheeler and Nita Patel were also stand-out excellent as respectively, the villain and hero's sidekick. Having risked a pint of John Smith's Extra Smooth at the interval, it was back to the bar for another after the curtain call. There we met (some might say "cornered") the aforementioned Ian Wheeler, also the show's writer, director and producer. I've already interviewed him a couple of times for Garbled and am happy to report than as well as being a great interviewee he's also a jolly nice chap to have a drink with. More importantly, through the Battered Suitcase Company he continues do innovative and entertaining work in genres that are seldom covered by anybody else. Chris Denton Past interviews with Ian Wheeler can be read here and here. Battered Suitcase's multimedia extravaganza of a website can be visited, as you might expect, by going to www.batteredsuitcase.co.uk Chris Denton. Comments?
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