OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 9 September 2008

Victor Spinetti and John Lennon

WHEN Victor Spinetti stepped on to the stage at on the first night of a UK tour, he was trying to turn back time. Here was a man attempting to go back almost 20 years and to revive a one-man show that had lain on the shelf a long time. Perhaps even he, as accomplished and actor as he is, had doubts he could breath life into his half-forgotten show. Would his memory fail? Had his show biz memories lost their sparkle? Possibly these were the concerns that fed the wicked, sharp-toothed worms that nibble at every actor’s confidence.

If these were the worries that occupied Spinetti’s mind they were banished within minutes of him opening up his mental scrap book to the Eden Court audience. Soon a gaggle of giants from the world of entertainment were swaggering across the stage. John Lennon, Richard Burton and Sophia Loren paid their respects as Spinetti regailed the audience with innumerable anecdotes from his wealth of experience in the world of celluloid.

In recounting his experiences of the great and the good of screen and stage, Spinetti revealed himself to be a masterful storyteller moving with ease from one character to another with a humour and warmth that charmed the audience.

His impersonation of Salvador Dali is the best anyone will ever do – I doubt if the old painter himself could beat it. Richard Burton and David Attenborough were brought to life with equal skill in a well-paced performance where laughter was never more than a moment away.

As the show progressed, Spinetti warmed to his task, and any cobwebs that may have adhered to the show were quickly blown away. Occasionally, especially in the early part of the show, he meandered off the script and had to find his way, through the dimly lit corridors of his memory, back into the spotlight.

That the performance was not always slick added a charm to it, as you could see Spinetti piecing together the jigsaw in his mind and providing a spontaneity that made the performance all the more fascinating to watch.

He danced about amongst a star-studded cast and recounted conversations with Marlene Dietrich, Sir John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier without a shred of arrogance, bringing a humanity to all the stars he described. The show was certainly name dropping on a grand scale, but there was no conceit in any this, and the audience warmed to the charm and humour of this old school actor.

His accounts of Beatle Mania were engrossing, at least in part because he could speak as someone who had been so close to the original super group that some of their glitter, and part of the fanatical fan base, had become attached to him.

Although, even with my advancing years, I had to strain my memory to recall some of the stars he mentioned there was enough entertainment here for even the youngest members of the audience.

© John Burns, 2008