| | | SEE ALSO |  | BBC Beds, Herts and Bucks Theatre Interview with Ralf Little Read our Billy Liar review | | | WEB LINKS | | Milton Keynes Theatre
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| | | ESSENTIAL INFO | | 5-10 July 2004
Mon - Sat Eves: 7.30pm
Wed & Sat: 2.30pm Ticket prices: £10.00-£24.00 Box Office: 01908 606090 ABOUT BILLY LIAR
Keith Waterhouse and Willis Halls BILLY LIAR started out as a bestselling novel, then it was a long-running West End play, then a musical, then a major film, then a British TV series, before being launched stateside as a sitcom. It was recently voted into the top 100 plays of all time compiled by the National Theatre. BILLY LIAR tells the tale of one day in the life of Billy Fisher, a young man whose dreams of glory and success are a world away from life in his parents house. With three girlfriends, two fiancées (but only one engagement ring) and an embarrassing deficit in the office petty cash, Billy escapes from his ever-more complicated reality by living out a series of extraordinary daydreams. The tangled web of Billys life unravels calamitously when his mundane home life collides catastrophically with his complex fantasy world. Ralf Little (The Royle Family, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps) takes the lead role and marks his return to the stage following his critically acclaimed performance earlier this year in Notes on Falling Leaves (The Royal Court Theatre, London). Ralf leads an impressive cast that includes Tracie Bennett (Coronation Street), Paul Copley (Hornblower), Joanne Page (Love Actually), Rachel Leskovac (Spend Spend Spend), Matt Hickey (Band of Brothers), Sarah Churm (At Home with the Braithwaites) and Doreen Mantle (One Foot in the Grave). | |  |
| | Set in 1959, Billy Liar has been presented in all sorts of genre over the years, as a book, a play, on film and on TV and is usually billed as a comedy. But in truth, while it is indeed very funny, it is actually also terribly sad. And as is so often the case, it is the clever use of comedy that serves to heighten the tragic nature of the situation.  | | Ralf Little as Billy Liar |
In Billy Liar, that situation is one where young northern lad Billy Fisher is expected to get a job, get married and have kids, just like most young men in the late 1950s were supposed to. But Billy wants to be a scriptwriter, live the high life in London and win TV awards. The 20-year-old funeral director employee feels trapped by what is expected of him and so flees into a world of fantasy where he tells outrageous stories as a means of escape from his grey life. The Royle Family actor Ralf Little takes on the role of Billy and skilfully combines comedy and tragedy to unravel the layers of this complex character. The result is that when his lies lead to him trying to keep his three girlfriends (including two fiancées!) apart it doesnt end up in a Run For Your Wife type farce. Sure, his efforts to keep them apart are funny, which is only to be expected from somebody who has already proved himself as a fine comic actor. But underneath this humour is a sad study of a tortured lad, and Ralph Little shows us the depth of his range by managing to make you see Billy virtually disintegrate before your eyes as his efforts to make more of himself are continually poo pooed by his family. So, while on the face of it Billy seems selfish and weak, you cant help but feel some sympathy for the protagonist whose battle to better himself seems hopeless in the face of constant interference from his parents who represent the dark shadow of conformity. These are played by Paul Copley and Tracie Bennett (Coronation Street) who between them add to what is another strength in this production - an excellent cast. As Billys father, Copley symbolises social conformity and as such appears to be an overbearing brute but again the layers come out as it quickly becomes clear that he finds it difficult to show his emotions. One telling moment is when he attempts to comfort his wife. You think she will finally get the hug she needs before he merely taps her hand and turns away. Similarly, one of Billys fiancés represents the nice girl, that men should aspire to, but again the social norm is seen as homely but frigid. She is convincingly played by Rachel Leskovac who again portrays her range by playing a very different character from Holby Citys serial killer nurse.  | Ralph Little and Joanna Page in Billy Liar
Photo: Robert Day |
As Billys grandmother, Doreen Mantle expertly and hilariously represents the older generation that has perpetuated the unimaginative society that they are living in and as his mother, Tracie Bennett is excellent as another parent who feels bound by the past to keep the future going along the same lines. Maybe its just me, maybe deep down I feel a bit like he does but I just kept willing Billy on to breakaway. I dont want to spoil the outcome but suffice to say, like all tragic heroes he is fatally flawed and his weakness is set to lead to his personal downfall. But does it? Underneath the laughter, can he show that sometimes you have to be a bit selfish for the greater good? That you will have to find out for yourselves! Ultimately Billy Liar has a lesson for us all we must be strong or life will pass us by. We must try to resist merely doing what is expected of us if we are not happy about it, because if we become like sheep, we will end up as lambs to the slaughter under a society that lacks both creativity and compassion. I laughed a lot at Billy Liar but was also genuinely moved by the production which you can see in Milton Keynes on its pre-West End National tour.
Ralf Little reveals a lot >>
Find out all about Billy Fisher, what excuses Ralph used at university to go to auditions, why he turned down a top soap, if he could have been a professional footballer and why he thinks Manchester United AREN'T rubbish! |
