Lively show lacks depth

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MITCHELL AND KENYON, Oldham Coliseum

AS plays based on historical fact go, this one is intriguing and frustrating in equal measure.

Intriguing because there’s a real detective story behind the period fame of cinematographers James Kenyon and Sagar Mitchell; and frustrating because this play spends so much time singing and cavorting its way, music-hall style, through what little seems to be known about them, that little is made of why their work was so valuable.

We don’t appear to know even what kind of shop the pair ran in Blackburn, nor have we an idea how their films came to be lodged in barrels in a basement. Nor do we know much about their working relationship, though playwright Daragh Carville sees Mitchell as the livewire entrepreneur and Kenyon as the steady partner.

Anyone who has seen any of Mitchell and Kenyon’s work — of which this show offers a small selection, lovingly restored by the BFI and courtesy of projection specialists imitating the dog — will see mediocre point-and-shoot camera work of value mainly as a major social and historical document, not for its filmic quality.

Mitchell and Kenyon weren’t artists but shopkeepers; their work served only to pull in punters keen to see themselves in movies commissioned by fairground operators, shot and shown on the same day. In celebrating them, we celebrate our good fortune in having a window on the past, not their skill.

Daragh Carville’s musical play scoots over some of this, accepting in passing that they weren’t all that interested in posterity or art, just in making money, but nonetheless ascribing to them fairly pure motives.

As shows go this is both good and annoying: I’d much have preferred a fuller examination of their working practices and the growth of their fame and less of the rather lame songs and music-hall style.

The acting is entertaining throughout though, particularly from the always-watchable Christopher Wright as Kenyon and lively Gareth Cassidy as Mitchell — though the contributions across many characters of Jo Mousley, Liam Gerrard and David Westbrook mustn’t be ignored.

But once again the star of the evening is the work of imitating the dog. Their music hall backdrop serves as projection screen, rooms, shops and more, with great details and visual wonderment throughout.

Amy Leach’s direction keeps the action lively but without depth. The same can be said of the pair at the heart of the story.