In this one man show, Ewan Wardrop plays the part of George Formby and various other characters telling the colourful life stories of this much loved entertainer. Wardrop, as Formby, addresses the audience directly as if recounting memoirs to the crowd, whilst various anecdotes are acted out as flashbacks; of course, a song is never far away. We hear of how the Lancashire born star’s first career was as an unsuccessful Jockey over in Ireland before he came home and began to follow in his father’s footsteps in the music halls. The narrative touches on the death of George Formby senior and how his son took on his mantle, before focusing on the younger George’s marriage to Beryl Ingham and the influence she had in helping him become one of the foremost comic performers of his generation.
Ewan Wardrop is exceptional and vastly talented. His performance as Formby alone is uncanny, exuding the charisma and likeability of the star with his instantly recognisable nasal northern drawl. He also demonstrates ample dexterity on the ukulele, is competent on the harmonica, adept at numerous accents and an annoyingly proficient tap dancer as well. However these are just the groundings of Wardrop’s performance; a real highlight is his ability to play two entirely convincing characters in one dialogue simultaneously. With the subtle tilt of a hat, the odd prop here and there, and a lighting change the audience could be forgiven for imagining the stage to be overcrowded with people. The performance concludes with two of the comic singer’s greatest hits that the crowd are invited to sing along to and they did so with gusto. The show is engaging as a story of ‘an ordinary man with an extraordinary talent’, but also stands alone as a hugely entertaining piece of theatre whether you are a Formby fan or not.
