Performance Run: Wed 13 - Thu 14 Jun 2016

Performance Reviewed: Wed 13 Jun 2016 (Press Night)

There’s always a real fear with the ‘viral’ stars of today that they simply won’t translate beyond the ephemeral nature of the internet. Made famous by the short attention spans and button clicks of social media et al., one often wonders how many of the ‘stars’ of the Youtube generation would even begin to stretch and distort their appeal over anything beyond a few minutes. A slightly cynical outlook, perhaps, but we all remember the abomination that became of the Dappy Laughs TV Show.

Mercifully, there is a saviour to all this - and she’s a right bone idle cow! 

David Tristram and Gill Jordan’s wry, satirical take on the working class and perpetually unemployed, as seen through a heart-warmingly authentic Black Country filter, ‘Doreen’ manages to triumphantly waylay any such concerns with a genuinely hilarious and superbly written evening of good old fashioned variety entertainment; a one-woman show of at-times dizzying comic invention.

At the heart of Doreen’s Grand Night Out lies a host of essentially quite traditional ideas and gags, an incredibly entertaining and hearty dose of extremely welcome old-style variety entertainment, which goes some way to explain how the character and evening manage to avoid any of the aforementioned ‘stretched out’ fatigue or malaise. Tipton’s most prolific of the ‘self-unemployed’ routinely mispronounces and misinterprets even the most casual of references, and there are enough accidental innuendos in there to ensure a steady stream of laughs. However, there’s also a canny dash of modernity with cutaways to filmed interviews, movie and television parodies, hilarious faux news reports (wait until you see Tipton’s version of the now-infamous ‘London Eye’), and even a re-imagining of ‘The Simpsons’s. Tristram’s writing for the character is impeccable throughout, though to go into too much detail on Doreen’s many set pieces and monologues would be to spoil the fun. 

"Very few amongst the comedy elite would be 

able to pull off nearly 3 hours of consistently

laugh-out-loud material with the conviction

and efficiency Jordan manages here"

Carrying the show on her incredibly versatile shoulders is the sublime Gill Jordan. Be it playing the World’s most awkwardly named Opera star who was taught English by a man with Tourettes, sending up Maggie Smith and co in a spoof of Downton Abbey (‘Doreenton Abbey’, with glaring TV aerial plonked on top, naturally), a distinctly Celtic-yet-not Black Count…ry girl and her accordian, lamenting the lot of a Nun with a drinking problem who doesn’t quite believe in it all, through to the now instantly recognisable Doreen herself, Jordan is a whirlwind of accents, comedic energy (well, as energetic as Doreen can muster!) and faultless character work. Very few amongst the comedy elite would be able to pull off nearly 3 hours of consistently laugh-out-loud material with the conviction and efficiency Jordan manages here, and it is fantastic to see the talent being recognised in the Grand completely selling out both dates of her appearance - a fact which we have since discovered is happening at every leg of her tour.

There’s an argument to be made that some of what makes Doreen’s Grand Night Out so bloody ‘bostin’ may be lost on those outside of the Black Country and Birmingham, and whilst it’s true there are plenty of knowing winks and nudges, and more than the odd celebrity or cultural reference here and there that may not land so strongly elsewhere, generally the writing and character work is so on-point, and the wider concept and idea of the character so universal, that it makes any of Tristram and Jordan’s collaborations pretty much must-see material. There is a soupçon of David Threlfall’s Frank Gallagher of Shameless fame, and other similar loveable losers in there with Doreen, and given that their latest video - Doreen deciding to run for Prime Minister - went viral all over again, there seems to be a very hearty appetite for the real talent and laughs Tristram and Jordan bring to stage or screen.

"There is a soupcon of David Threlfall's Frank

Gallagher of Shameless fame, and other similar

loveable losers in there with Doreen"

Doreen’s Grand Night Out is a testimony to the rarity of synergy between writer and performer - as mentioned, most major theatrical productions and A-list comedy acts don’t manage to get it so consistently right. There are a couple of wobbles here and there - a video series on the history of alcohol is funny but goes on perhaps a touch longer than necessary, and a deliberately low-budget action movie parody attempting to put Doreen in the midst of the Star Wars universe feels like ambition overshot execution and not in the way intended, but it does redeem itself somewhat with a suitably silly title (‘The Force-Kin Awakens’) and at the brilliant sight of Darth Vader attempting to blow up the local Merry Hill Shopping Centre. Despite these couple of very minor side-steps though, this was almost 3 hours of relentless laughs, inspired writing and a masterclass in character acting, all rolled up in a package to make the Black Country truly proud of its unlikely new ambassador.

So grab your pork scratchings or some bits from the Shrimp Man (who isn't, Doreen assures as, a mutant) and be sure to go and catch Doreen when you can, where you can, IF you can - including over at ‘webshite’ www.doreen.tv - and with any justice she’ll continue her recent rise to fame and be gracing many more shows and stages to come.

Next up, she’s set to star in the Grand’s very own pantomime ‘Aladdin’ starting in December, as the aptly named ‘Lazy Empress of China’, but we can’t help but realise that will probably mean having to get out of bed before mid-afternoon for rehearsals, and maybe even missing a trip to the job centre or two!

Yes, it’s a hard life being our Doreen, but it’s also an unrelentingly funny, warm-hearted and joyous one indeed, and we, the audience, get to reap the benefits of this fantastic creation and the talents of the two responsible for bringing her to life.

Well, slouched on the sofa with a can of Pringles, at least.

RATING - ★★★★★

Tickets: 01902 429 212  / Official Website: click

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Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here