The Thing About Men

Published Tuesday 1 May 2007 at 12:25 by Jeremy Austin

Manlove - that heterosexual, back-slapping, bestest buddy friendship between two fellas - is a special relationship and one about which us blokes are always a little bit uncomfortable.

Perhaps that’s why it is seldom explored on stage, particularly in musical theatre, which is not the natural habitat of the average, red-blooded male. But Joe Di Pietro and Jimmy Roberts - successful collaborators on I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change - have created an exploration of just this, which manages to be in the best possible reviewing cliches both funny and touching.

Philandering Tom, a sharp-suited ad exec with “a Porsche you can’t afford” discovers his wife of 15 years, Lucy, has embarked on an affair of her own. He discovers the object of her affection is Sebastian, a 40-something artist who, through a slightly conceited plot, manages to move in with him as his lodger.

While the plot requires a suspension of belief that even Brunel would have had a task bridging, it does not matter. Well-cast, it is a fun romp through what it means to be a middle aged male still clinging onto his youth, or “superyouth” as the ad execs call it.

Anthony Drewe’s skills as a lyricist are matched by his ability as a director of comedy. His cast could not be bettered. Hal Fowler as Tom, and Nicola Dawn as Lucy, have a real chemistry but also an in-depth understanding of their characters, as does Tim Rogers, as Sebastian.

The comic interludes performed by Paul Baker and Tiffany Graves enable the who production to nestle comfortably amongst the farces propelled by some genuinely moving tunes, Take Me Into You, sung between Lucy and Sebastian, chief among them.