This play had all the virtues of a small budget. It was concise, focused and small-scale; the actors did not try to do impersonations, just occasionally reminded you of little quirks of speech or mannerism, and conveyed perfectly the characters of the two leads as men and actors.
It was called 'Stan' and it was Stan who had the lines, who told the story, but I want to concentrate on the portrait of Ollie. We all know that Stan considered himself the brains of the team and was so considered by the studio and also by Ollie. Because Ollie was easy-going and unambitious, because he knew there was more to life than work, he is often seen as the fat fool who was happy to fall on his arse for enough money to fund his golf habit.
The play corrects this impression.
Stan pays tribute to Ollie's comic skills: his timing, his milking of laughs, his inventiveness.
We see Ollie persuading the disgruntled Stan of the virtues of the team they could become. He is a man who is not just a natural comic (something that I could argue Stan was not to the same extent), but someone who has comic intelligence.
It is Ollie who recognises the importance of humour even in hard times - especially in hard times and about hard times - when Stan is going through one of his periodic depressive bouts. Was it really Ollie who had the idea for 'Their first mistake'? This idea is neatly used to make a little joke out of Ollie's incapacity.
Just a word or two about their comic abilities. There is no doubt that they would have got nowhere without each other, but I believe that Ollie was an instinctively funny man, while Stan would work out how he could be funny. A bit like Steve Martin or Robin Williams today. Ollie is more like the late British comic Tommy Cooper. But that is a debate for another time.
Towards the end it is Ollie who recognises that the work has become poor. Personally, I won't watch their last films. While the ever dissatisfied Stan can't leave it, Ollie has the wisdom to walk away, in the knowledge that the best work is preserved for ever, and will be forever loved. As one who who never knew them until after their death/retirement, I can vouch for that. My own children are fans too.
The play's end is all the more moving for the touch of humour injected into it. Stan, portrayed sympathetically, for all his frustrated, over-achieving self-obsession, has to admit to himself the depth of his friendship and the debt he owes to his partner.
It was called 'Stan' and it was Stan who had the lines, who told the story, but I want to concentrate on the portrait of Ollie. We all know that Stan considered himself the brains of the team and was so considered by the studio and also by Ollie. Because Ollie was easy-going and unambitious, because he knew there was more to life than work, he is often seen as the fat fool who was happy to fall on his arse for enough money to fund his golf habit.
The play corrects this impression.
Stan pays tribute to Ollie's comic skills: his timing, his milking of laughs, his inventiveness.
We see Ollie persuading the disgruntled Stan of the virtues of the team they could become. He is a man who is not just a natural comic (something that I could argue Stan was not to the same extent), but someone who has comic intelligence.
It is Ollie who recognises the importance of humour even in hard times - especially in hard times and about hard times - when Stan is going through one of his periodic depressive bouts. Was it really Ollie who had the idea for 'Their first mistake'? This idea is neatly used to make a little joke out of Ollie's incapacity.
Just a word or two about their comic abilities. There is no doubt that they would have got nowhere without each other, but I believe that Ollie was an instinctively funny man, while Stan would work out how he could be funny. A bit like Steve Martin or Robin Williams today. Ollie is more like the late British comic Tommy Cooper. But that is a debate for another time.
Towards the end it is Ollie who recognises that the work has become poor. Personally, I won't watch their last films. While the ever dissatisfied Stan can't leave it, Ollie has the wisdom to walk away, in the knowledge that the best work is preserved for ever, and will be forever loved. As one who who never knew them until after their death/retirement, I can vouch for that. My own children are fans too.
The play's end is all the more moving for the touch of humour injected into it. Stan, portrayed sympathetically, for all his frustrated, over-achieving self-obsession, has to admit to himself the depth of his friendship and the debt he owes to his partner.
