The Stage

Those Magnificent Men

Published Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 10:10 by Julie Watterston

With so many legendary historical characters hitting the stage and screen, how does the gentle story of the pioneers who made the first ever non-stop transatlantic flight in 1919 make an impact with audiences hungry for drama, romance and danger?

C P Hallam (Alcock), Richard Earl (Brown) in Those Magnificent Men at the Corn Exchange, Newbury Photo: Robert Day

It is this angle that writers Brian Mitchell and Joseph Nixon have hooked into by turning this bio-pic into a sympathetic yet comic memoir. Actors CP Hallam and Richard Earl tell the story of pilot Captain John Alcock and navigator Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown, narrating their exploits but also performing as the men themselves. As Earl writes the story and tries to ‘sex’ up what he sees as a lacklustre narrative, there is ample opportunity for the two actors to form a great comedy double act, verging on the slapstick but always maintaining the right ethos.

The production is full of laughter, pathos and ingenuity, with strong direction from Daniel Buckroyd and creative design by Helen Fownes-Davies, who uses basic trunks for a variety of clever purposes and facilitates the quirky construction of an amusingly credible version of the Vickers-Vimy-Roils aeroplane.

The production itself has a real feelgood factor and, even in today’s world of technical wizardry, reminds us of the selfless and pioneering ambitions of Alcock and Brown to thrust man forward into a new world of travel.