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A fitting tribute to Pete and Dud
PETE AND DUD
The Venue
THERE is a wonderful nostalgic moment of recognition for
people of a certain age when Dudley Moore, brilliantly portrayed
by actor Kevin Bishop, announces that he is being besieged by
legendary Hollywood actresses.
Betty Grable phones him from America at 11pm and orders
him to get the next flight out to her hotel. Then Greta Garbo
turns up – she who “vants to be alone” –
wearing just a short nightie. She is followed by Jane Russell,
who is hammering on his window.
The politically incorrect sketch, from the 1970s Dagenham Dialogues,
is performed with perfect comic timing by Bishop and Tom Goodman
Hill, who plays Peter Cook.
Pete and Dud: Come Again, at the Venue theatre in Leicester
Square, is not only a tribute to the late great comedians, but
also an examination of their humour.
The show reconstructs one of the most fondly remembered of all
comic partnerships and tries to explain why it fell apart amid
such anger and mutual resentment.
Set during a chat show, the production sees Moore looking back
on his years with Cook, from Beyond the Fringe in the 1960s
to the drunken dirty thoughts of Derek and Clive.
Set in 1982, the play sees Dudley Moore, having courted Hollywood
by starring in Arthur with Liza Minnelli and John Gielgud, return
to the UK and appear on a primetime chat show.
Using flashbacks and sketches, the diminutive Dudley reveals
the pitfalls in his relationship with Cook, and the inevitability
of its breakdown.
The actors go beyond simply mimicking their alter egos. They
portray Cook and Moore as they might have been in real life,
beyond reach of the cameras and microphones.
The show has been expanded from a production staged at last
year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. A great script by Chris
Bartlett and Nick Awde and excellent support by Alexander Kirk,
as chat show host, Tony Ferguson, Colin Hoult and Fergus Craig.
The play is neatly directed by Owen Lewis.
Until June 6
0870 899 3335
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