The Demolition Of The Century was a stage adaptation of Duncan Sarkies’ own novel of the same name.
It tells the story of Tom Spotswood, an alcoholic insurance investigator who has lost his socks, his suitcase, his ex-wife and his son. Sarkies read extracts from the novel and took the intimate audience straight to the heart of his book and inside the characters’ minds. The writing was at times humorous, at times tender, and always vibrant.
The various atmospheres Sarkies’ characters conjured were enhanced by Joe Blossom's moody electric guitar and piano playing. Sometimes Blossom played behind Sarkies' words, sometimes he provided bridges between the extracts with instrumentals or songs, songs that picked up the mood of the the readings without being directly related.
The 60 minutes were magically held together by such invisible threads plus the obvious though understated friendship of the two performers.
At one point Sarkies danced like a maniac, at another he suddenly sang the lead vocal, constantly creating new focus and interest.
This was literary cabaret, live fiction, a musical novel. It was different but without being different for its own amusement. At times very moving, above all The Demolition Of The Century was highly entertaining.
Four stars
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