Dog better off without Pat

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33965, 4 October 1975, Page 16

Dog better off without Pat

H. G. Wells is alive 1 and well behind the 1 scene* of our own James ( Hay Theatre, where, ao . cording to programme : information. he is thriving on a diet of 1 Rival Jellymeat. His brief, and somewhat 1 ••• - i’ supercilious, appearance on the stage last mght was, clearly tantalising to the ; theatre-full of his disciples who had waited in long queues, and they must have been finally left wondering whatever possessed Mr Wells to tour the Antipodes in the company of such a team of supporting artists. On its own, the backing group seemed quite indifferent instrumentalists, GrayBartlett’s guitar was scarcely noticed. Steve Allen seemed somewhat lethargic, and Bndgette Allen must have been as bored as the audi-

ence was with jokes about her age. However, if H. G. Wells did little to promote his! sales, one cannot say the same of his handler. Mr!; Patrick Cargill, who valiantly held the stage in the unfor-p tunate long periods between Mr Wells’s appearances. Mr I Cargill’s performance was | courageous but uninventive., He held the first half of the show with a potted and pre * served autobiography, full of dated cabaret jokes and|' reaching a kind of climax' with a simulation of a horse farting which clearly de-| lighted most of the audience.' Throughout Mr Cargill’s! autobiography, there were numerous wry twists of J e- ■ livery which recalled his television hilarity, but these were, consistently undermined by 1 extremely unsubtle recorded effects and excessively glaring spotlights which melted h facial detail into an indeter- , minate glow. In all this. Mr! Cargill’s essential need was l

simply for Mr Wells to ap-i pear from the wings and: write him a respectable! 'script. In the second half, the programme picked up remark-'; ably, though Mr Cargill still (depended on oddly incongruous material. He threw in understudy-level renditions of Antony in “Julius Caesar” and of a Noel Coward “Red Peppers" number which Repertory did much better earlier this year. His most unsuccessful contribution here was an abortive emulation of Fred Dagg’s “Get in behind!” to an appropriately indifferent H. G. Wells in the (wings, but he also threw in some genuinely hilarious anecdotes which recalled his television stature — particu-i larlv a love-making episode! between a Rolls and a Mini.' A couple of his own songs; were less appealing, but he! combined with Bridgette! Allen (in much better form! this time) to do a verv amusing song about Messrs Mul-

doon. Skinner, and others, surprisingly, getting all the local references right. A solo performer—and particularly one who specialises in camera work—needs very sympathetic direction, and that Mr Cargill certainly did, not have. He needs a better! script-writer (if he has one at! all), and a much more carefully selected team of supporting performers. From last night’s audience, it was clear that his appeal is largely to older people, and Steve Allen and Bridgette Allen were clearly at a disadvantage before they stepped on stage. Mr Cargill would undoubtedly be at his best in a cabaret situation, or at least in a more intimate theatre: but seeing the man in the flesh was obviously a great highlight—if a grossly overlit, over-distanced, and overamplified highlight—for his large and appreciative audience last night. —H.D.McN.