27 June 2017

Car Park KIng



Review by: Paul Towers, 27 June 2017
Car Park King by Jessica McDonagh
Every Egg A Bird Theatre Company production – James Beglin, Jessica McDonagh & Kris W Laudrum
Upstairs @ The Western, 27th – 28th June 2017

“Horrible Histories for grown ups.”

Car Park King is a comedy loosely, very loosely, based on the life of Leicester’s very own King Richard the Third and probably yet another thorn in the side of the Richard III Society.
You know you are in for a good laugh when even the programme causes you to chuckle on the way into the auditorium. This wholly original comedy, written and acted by Jessica McDonagh and her able company of James Beglina and Kris W Laudrum is an absurd mixture of Monty Python, Blackadder and Horrible Histories for grown ups. Right from the moment the lights dim the gags start to flow and don’t stop for the next hour and 20 minutes.
The set is a wall of heraldic shields with windows that enable multiple costume changes to be done in a split second and is also the repository for the many props.
James Beglin as Richard is the single constant as the other two cast members play a couple of dozen peripheral characters in wacky costumes, very weird wigs, hats and various accents, not all of which are necessarily appropriate except for comedy value.
As we make our way through the turbulent life of Richard, often paying scant attention to linear storytelling, we canter through his childhood, his brother’s death, his ascension to the crown, his marriage and ultimately his fateful decision to play the big man on a field in Bosworth before ending up under a council car park in Leicester.
Car Park King is back at Upstairs at The Western on Wednesday 28th June although it is probably sold out again.
Full details of the tour can be found at http://bit.do/dxx6R

First published on Western Gazette and London Pub Theatres


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