Stage Dragon: Vulcan 7 – Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

Published on: 25 Sep, 2018
Updated on: 25 Sep, 2018

Lois Chimimba (Leela Vitoli), Nigel Planer (Hugh Delavois) and Adrian Edmondson (Gary Savage)

By Ferenc Hepp

Yvonne Arnaud’s autumn season kicks off this week with Vulcan 7, a brand new play written by and also starring Nigel Planer and Adrian Edmondson, most famous from working together in the 80s comedy series The Young Ones.

The cast is completed by Lois Chimimba who trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and has a number of credits with the National Theatre, as well as Shakespeare’s Globe and touring productions. The play is directed by Steve Marmion; the artistic director of the Soho Theatre since 2010.

The setting is a remote part of Iceland near an active volcano where Gary Savage (Edmondson) and Hugh Delavois (Planer), both in their 60s, are forcibly reunited on the set of Vulcan 7, a fantasy movie, in Delavois’ trailer.

Savage (Edmunson) plays a guest monster with a suitably horrific outfit.

Delavois has the bigger role in the movie as Vulcan’s butler, whereas Savage plays a guest monster with a suitably horrific outfit, only to have one line in the movie. The two men went to drama school together and their rivalry is exposed and old wounds are opened up as they spend a whole afternoon stuck in the trailer with worsening conditions outside, waiting to start some filming, which never actually happens.

Chimimba plays Leela Vitoli, the runner on set, and the relationship and dynamic between the men and Leela changes quite significantly through the play; from Leela attempting to look after them and the men constantly bickering, illustrated perfectly by one of Edmondson’s lines: “If acting is a disease, you’ve never really caught it”, to Leela ordering them around and Gary & Hugh getting closer together in the light of the dramatic events outside and the twist about one of them possibly being Leena’s father.

It is quite clear from the outset that despite all the arguing, the two men have a love-hate relationship, and they follow each other’s careers very closely. It is Edmondson who has more of the funny one-liners and we see a lot of ‘Bottom’ traits in his characterisation of Savage, including a lot of strong language which gets increasingly intense as Savage gets through more bottles of wine.

The script is generally well written, although a lot of the humour does rely on the fruity language from Edmondson. The characters portrayed by all three members of the cast are convincing and believable, the realism confirmed by a friend of mine in the audience who spends a lot of time on film sets.

Initially I thought we were in the 1970s due to the style of the trailer setting, however, references are made to the Harvey Weinstein accusations and the Iceland volcano eruption of 2010 which halted flights throughout Europe, therefore we soon realise that we are in the present day.

The tilting trailer.

Physical comedy is also employed, the trailer tilting further and further to one side throughout the second act.

This production may not be everyone’s cup of tea, as nothing much actually “happens”, but if you are a fan of The Young Ones and the two lead actors, then I would recommend to catch this in Guildford this week, or on tour. Edmondson’s and Planer’s 40-year friendship shines through both in their writing and their characterisations throughout.

Vulcan 7 runs until Saturday, September 29 and tickets are available via the website: www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk, or by calling the box office on: 01483 440000.