Back in November, we attended a unique dark comedy double bill at Liverpool’s Hope Street Theatre. Firstly, the hilariously ‘one woman show, Marigold Lately, delivered her hugely anticipated Dirty Old Town show followed by the Scouse farce play, Out The Woodwork!
The night was a must for fans of dark comedy and theatre — bringing local theatre-goers a two-in-one night of stand up, storytelling and Scouse comedy with plenty of twists. A collaboration between local actors Mikyla Jane Durkan and Lee Clotworthy, the night brought something quite different to the Liverpool theatre scene.
The evening began with Dirty Old Town. Set in an absurdly dark place where characters are not always what they seem, we took a journey into Marigold Lately’s weird and wonderful life — with storytelling, spoken word and anecdotes in what was both a profound and thoroughly entertaining performance.
Fresh off the back of a run of comedy nights and spoken word performances at venues in Liverpool and Manchester — The Hot Water Comedy Club, Fem de la Femme and A Lovely Word to name but three — Marigold Lately had us both laughing out loud and feeling for her tragic life.
Dirty Old Town was followed by Gingerlee Does It’s latest ingenious production, Out The Woodwork. Following his five-star dystopian satirical comedy, National Killing Day which saw a successful run at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe, writer and director Lee Clotworthy brought this new piece of writing, which reflects his Scouse humour and working-class roots.
His latest farcical Scouse comedy follows the story of divorcee Pat, who wins £30million on the lottery whilst having a girly night in with her mate — only for the news to spread, resulting in her life getting turned upside down. With plenty of Scouse wit and humour, there were riotous scenes and lots of twists!
The 6-strong cast all excelled in what was a classic comedy performance — as the revelation of Pat’s lottery win got out on social media, the dynamics and interaction between Pat and the many different characters soon got outrageously out of control!
Mikyla Jane Durkan and Lee Clotworthy have many years of experience on the Liverpool theatre scene championing working-class stories and actors, amassing 500 performances between them and have featured in local and national media outlets. Their latest collaboration was their best to date — two captivating performances in one night and a triumph for theatre.
Dark Comedy Double Bill / Dirty Old Town & Out The Woodwork / Hope Street Theatre, Liverpool / 16th, 17th and 18th November 2023
Images courtesy of Andrew AB Photography
