Review: Hit Me: The Life and Rhymes of Ian Drury

Making a return to the Festival Fringe, this 2-hander piece explores Ian Dury's unique gift to music and society in general. Impersonation has been done before - notably the recent film Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll - but what this intensely theatrical take on Dury gives us is that real sense of the live performer and the man behind the ‘f***ing genius'. (The caution about very strong language must be taken seriously here!)

The second character is Fred, AKA ‘Spider', a failed thief, ex-army misfit who found a role in life ‘helping' Dury and the Blockheads on their rise to fame. The plot is what it says - the life and rhymes - a colourful life and a lyricist and performer of such genuine talent who changed the face of music in his time - giving the ‘English voice' a presence in rock music that had previously been exclusively American.

Both actors give excellent performances and engage with the audience completely. The out and out ‘musical' finale is a true delight, sending up both Dury and the musical theatre genre with affection that has the audience roaring approval.

Dury would love this - the Raspberry brilliantly brought back to the stage.

12/08/2010