Inheritance Blues at the Bedlam Theatre

Three members of a blues band play the audience in and I fully expected that when the actors proper appeared they would then take over the telling of the story.  However, I was wrong.  The band themselves had fully developed characters and in fact they were the ones who really told the story, which they said was one of many stories they had. 

Set in a pub in Dorset, the play then introduced three brothers(3 different actors – a nice change in these straitened times of the ubiquitous one man or small cast shows) who also turned out to be quite musical themselves.  The brothers were at the funeral wake of their father and as the play unfolds, we learn more about their lives, which are very different – one ne’er do well, one hard working average achiever and the one who stayed at home to look after the ailing father.  The character of their father and their respective relationships with him gradually unfolds as the piece develops. 

The band frequently interrupt the flow of the action while they argue amongst themselves about their recollection and interpretation of what really happened, and this device adds its own comic distancing effect from the main storyline.  The two sets of three begin to interact and get to know one another over a few drinks (they are snowed in and therefore not easily able to leave the pub). They sing together and later, two of the actors playing the brothers turn out to be excellent saxophone players and jam with the band - reenacting a scene from their father’s life.

I must confessed that I did partly guess what was in the father’s letter to the sons, which had to be opened at the end of the wake.  The father had indeed (and as I thought) booked the band himself and left a cheque to pay them (although I always thought that once someone was dead their accounts were automatically defunct with them). 

Great piece, entertaining and unusual.  Probably too large a cast for rural touring but certainly the company are worth watching for the future.  I could have just listened to them play the sax all night!!  But the play was good, too!!

Review by Gill Vickers