The Stage

The Fitzrovia Radio Hour

Published Friday 14 January 2011 at 12:52 by Jonathan Lovett

A radio play performed on stage might seem a trifle perverse. But the collection of props strewn on the stage suggests there will be plenty of ingenious action along the way.

Alex Ratcliffe, Tom Mallaburn, Natalie Ball and Alix Dunmore in The Fitzrovia Radio Hour at Trafalgar Studios Photo: Rowan Durrant/thelondonsockexchange

Transporting us to an era when wireless radio still ruled the airwaves and Britain still ruled India, we’re thrust into the delightful company of cut-glass accents and pencil-thin moustaches. This is a time when a true British broadcaster wouldn’t be seen dead without a dinner jacket.

Starting off by re-staging forties radio plays, this endearingly nostalgic company have now devised three originals that gently parody the sensationalist dramas and stereotype-ridden attitudes of a time that was more racist and class-conscious than today.

Undead Queen of Evil! plays on fears of foreigners, as an explorer raises an ancient queen from the dead. The second piece, Captain Fasthand and the Rooty Gong, leads us to India and a swashbuckling battle between valiant Brits and gay Nazis, while He Should Have Known His Place is a “cheery modern tragedy” of a northern labourer punished for attempting to rise above his station.

Most of the fun is had watching how the actors create their effects (a cabbage and a water melon can be used to make a spiffing beheading sound) or by closing your eyes and trying to work out how they do it.

And yet the show could be better. After ten minutes we get the gag and more innovation is needed behind the scenes. Perhaps a greater focus on the relationships between the actors would add a whole other dimension to proceedings.