The Review - THEATRE by SARAH MANN Published: 30 December 2008
Twelve crazy Christmas days
STEPHEN AND THE SEXY PARTRIDGE
Old Red Lion Theatre
HAVE you ever had a problem that only a partridge could solve?
Stephen and the Sexy Partridge is a delightfully bizarre festive treat that has all the eccentricity that you would expect from its award-winning director, the Mighty Boosh’s Cal McCrystal.
With drummers drumming, pipers piping and a banquet of seasonal poultry, this new take on the 12 days of Christmas has everything you need to get you into the Yuletide mood.
The play follows Stephen (played by Finnian O’Neill, the man with arguably the hugest grin ever seen in theatre) as he heads out to buy a gift to try to make amends with his girlfriend.
En route, Stephen happens to stumble across a curiously sexy partridge, played with panache by Lily Bevan, who takes him on a journey far removed from the delights of Westfield shopping centre and helps him discover a truer meaning of Christmas.
During a whirlwind tour of London, Stephen and the partridge meet the rest of the talented cast, who, in a dizzying number of costume changes, perform an unusual take on each of the 12 days of Christmas, playing everything from call girls to quiz show contestants and every manner of fowl imaginable – including a wonderfully baffling ballet by women dressed as men dressed as swans.
Adaptations of songs by Katy Perry, The Pussy Cat Dolls and the Beatles feature alongside Christmas favourites on a suitable soundtrack to this fabulously entertaining but insanely unpredictable show. Until January 3
020 7837 7816