Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, 4 November 2004 and then touring

GETTING a man in to sort out the plumbing has long been a mine of vaudevillian comedic riches. The newly convened Plutôt La Vie company bring a pair of overall-clad workies off the street, out from the cold and into the home, where they proceed to causer merry mayhem as they go about their chores.

With Ian Cameron and Tim Licata a classic double act as Walt and Dustin, the shapes they throw are straight out of the Jacques Tati school of deadpan mime. Rather than a fully thought-out plot, what emerges are a series of well-drilled set-pieces involving all manner of household instruments juggled, jiggled with and hurled about with pop-eyed abandon.

It falls somewhere between Eric Sykes’s silent movie masterpiece, ‘The Plank’, and Norman Wisdom minus the requisite frenetics. Rather than exploit the percussive potential of the tools of their trade á la ‘Stomp’ or ‘Tap Dogs,’ Plutôt La Vie prefer to lean more on slapstick sight gags to ply their wares.

Even at just over an hour, however, proceedings feel a tad too long in the tooth, and never really explore any of those dark and dusty corners which even the most sophisticated of attachments can’t reach. No-one’s doubting Cameron and Licata’s skills, forged as they were as part of Benchtours. It’s just that a bit more substance is required alongside a lot less throwaway.

Then Plutôt La Vie might really be able to clean up.

‘A Clean Sweep’ can be seen at the following venues:
Village Hall, Forgue, Tuesday 23 November 2004
The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, Wednesday 24 November 2004
Fisherman’s Hall, Buckie, Thursday 25 November 2004
Universal Hall, Findhorn, Friday 26 November 2004
Village Hall, New Deer, Saturday 27 November 2004
Village Hall, Cairndow, Wednesday 1 December 2004
Achmore Hall, Lochalsh, Thursday 2 December 2004
Sabhail Mór Ostaig, Sleat, Isle of Skye, Friday 3 December 2004
Aros Centre, Portree, Isle of Skye, Saturday 4 December 2004
Glenurquhart High School, Drumnadrochit, Thursday 9 December 2004
Community Theatre, Fortrose Academy, Friday 10 December 2004
Macphail Centre, Ullapool, Saturday 11 December 2004
© Neil Cooper, 2004