Evening Standard from London, Greater London, England • 188

44 THURSDAY 30 APRIL 1998 Reviews EVENING STANDARD 2 Talk of the City Swan Stratford NICHOLAS DEJONGH Vamping singer: Sian Reeves In Talk of the City missed the political chance and his fame is waning But failure which involves his two-timing female producer and a gay fling with a Jewish refugee is not intrinsically interesting His failure of perception just rates as sad as though Poliakoff has edged out the real interesting theatrical debate: could BBC radio have played a decisive role making listeners uncomfortably concerned about the ghastly plight of German Jews? But in the one slightly dramatic scene John Amos Grove the bow-tied head of Talks simply peddles the man- TEPHEN new play may capture the airs and disgraces the official pomp and parochial complacencies of the 1930s BBC But while Talk of the City revels in the atmosphere and manners of the heyday his dramatic lines of action and argument falter and fade lacking the weight of fully developed conflict Poliakoff who also ponderously directs lacks a dear path through the excessive overgrowth Unusually for Poliakoff Talk of the City involves an exploration of a little English cultural history He considers the low dishonest scenes and nearly three hours Poliakoff squanders theatrical time dealing with Clive the suave producer and his frustrated attempts to win the active cooperation of Robbie a bisexual farm son who comperes the Friday Night at Eight revue programme could have realised just that bit Robbie finally laments when he has ers Sian vamping singer and David Robbie the strangely passionless radio compere Meanwhile ostrich-like isolationism is never searchingly considered In repertoire Box office: 01789 295623 darin line of cautious neutrality Angus Clive maintains a classy air of patrician urgency if not quite enough passion But he cannot animate a play engrossed by Corporation manners the scantily dressed dancers and singers to 1930s music the stately newsread a fresh riff of that seaside air decade of the Thirties when it reflected the pervasive wish to make light of Hitler To dramatise this national and BBC cast of mind he shows what fails to happen when a young radical BBC talks producer tries to fashion a programme to catch the conscience of the country and reveal how German Jews are being persecuted In 14 endlessly meandering Propellerheads Astoria MAX BELL THERE many phat pants in evidence at the Astoria last night but the voluminous new dub wear was hardly missed as Alex Gifford and Will White breakbeat duo swung eir Velvet Pants mode instead They started out with all hands on deck four of them to be precise perched on breeze the lighter side of rave racket with four-to-the-floor drum patterns courtesy of windmill motions A few people have been snooty about this pair but Gifford is an engagingly manic performer whose professorial air is offset by a perma-grin as he straps on a bass or laughs to himself over the kind of seaside riffs popularised by Reginald Dixon in Blackpool circa 1958 That willingness to subvert the big-beat genre gives these energetic Props their advantage and the segue between Spybreak! the James Bond Theme and OHMSS is a winner The evening only fell flat when the Jungle Brothers came on to rap in a familiar hip-hop style that proved indigestible A case of history repeating blocks The Props' banging techno grated over cheesy Hammond organ and old-school Herbie Hancock ftision was stretched to breaking point in an opening groove that united adequate good very good outstanding poor HU MAJESTTS BO24tar 0171 494 5400 Cbkg THEATRES 494545441333114365 fetoMHMVnwerltaonli DONMAR WAREHOUSE 361 1732 THE BULLET anewnlyMoePenhal LASTWOK MUST END SAT CAMBK1DGE0171 49450604166060 344 4444420 0000(bbfec)Gnxn 494 5454 4I6607S4133S 1436 5588 a GREASE NO IN ITS 5th FANTASTIC YEAH IAN KELSEY Daily 'AMaamrHWDlWiTor BOOKING TO THE MDJJENNIUM VKTORUPALACE6171 834 1317 WaiBookkfte-420 0000344 4444 GIRLS' NIGHTOUT LASTWEEK "LaartaflaartiallMiUafiNi lea parti RilbtdiealsSIS SMGnGWFMterGoeiFim (ldbautpercouple) AOELPHIcc24tn(Slbtgfee)34400S5 rpa4l33321N00614903 "ULLFOl A TICKET" ILoS WINNER OUTSTANDING MUSICAL Older Awarfc VS CHICAGO THE MUSICAL HITHIEHENSHALL UTELEMFEK HENRY GOODMAN NIGEL PLANEI Moa-S8WedASatMaliSD0 TtaakoatHMVtowerReoida MISS SAIGON THE CLASSIC LOVE STORY OF OUR TDir NOW ITS 9th IIEATHTAKINC YEAR! 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