A homage to the godfathers of modern absurdist comedy will be performed at Penrith Playhouse next month.
Three classic episodes of The Goon Show — first broadcast by BBC Radio in the 1950s — will be brought to life in the latest production by Penrith Players.
Set to be performed from April 16 to April 19, the show will also feature musical interludes from Newcastle-based band, Raven Music, as well as the silliness first provided by Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine.
Popping up in each of the three episodes — The Canal, The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler (of Bexhill on Sea) and The Treasure of Loch Lomond — are many well-known characters from the series, including Neddie Seagoon, Bluebottle, Eccles and many more.
Approval had to be sought from Spike Milligan’s daughter, Jane, in order for Penrith Players to get the rights to perform the show.
“I’m not aware of many community theatres that have put The Goon Show on, so I feel very lucky,” said director Tash Binder, who said she hoped that not only will the show prove popular with local theatre-goers, but may also tempt members of The Goon Show Preservation Society to come along.
Tash said she first came across The Goon Show when she was a child. “Me and my dad used to listen to it in the car, first on a cassette tape, and then later on CD when we were going on long journeys.
“As a very small child, I didn’t really get it, it was just lots of silly voices and silly noises. But as I got a bit older I started to listen to the stories a bit more, and while there is not always an obvious story in each episode, the combination of the silliness, the imagination that you have to use, and all the different characters just makes it really funny to listen to,” she said.
The Goons have been credited as being the godfathers of modern absurdist comedy — with the likes of Monty Python and the Beatles having cited the comedy troupe as an inspiration.
“It’s timeless because it has inspired so much after it. We are not going to be presenting it as just a basic radio show. People will be running around, jumping up and down and falling into canals,” said Tash.
In addition, some of the props set to be used in the play are going to be hand drawn in order to help the audience bridge the gap between the things that you have to use your imagination for and the things that are physically there.
Previous stage incarnations include The Last Goon Show of All, performed by the Goons themselves, and productions in theatres across the UK, including the Apollo Theatre in London, but Penrith Players are promising something a bit different, as they attempt to combine the best bits of the classic radio show with some dramatic theatrical flair.
“In our version, we have tried to balance the mystery of audio, with the physicality of theatre to keep up with that madcap pace that the show is so famous for,” added Tash.
The four-night run at Penrith Playhouse, in Auction Mart Lane, will feature a 20-minute interval between episodes two and three. Tickets are available from Penrith TIC and penrithplayers.org
