Tony and Twizzle, the Glory Years _200 long
THE world of celebrity can sometimes seem beyond parody. But one north west theatre company knows a thing or two about send-ups, and Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding, who perform as Lip Service, are taking a look at the price of fame in their latest show, Tony & Twizzle – The Glory Years.
Maggie plays Anthony Chalmers and Sue is Isobel “Twizzle” Trilling, a celebrity couple looking back at their showbiz careers.
“We were just so fed up with the cult of celebrity,” Sue says.
“So we created these really monstrous characters, a bit like Richard and Judy or Neil and Christine Hamilton.”
One thing’s clear, that Sue and Maggie really had fun bringing the best – or maybe the worst – out of their creations.
“It gave us the opportunity to do a lot of different genre spoofs.
“We think maybe they started out in the 60s, with that gritty Northern realism, so we spoofed that with Wednesday Night and Thursday Morning.
“Then, in the Seventies, there’d be that kind of Upstairs Downstairs costume type show, so we created Some Vets Do ’Ave ’Em.
“Then of course they’d have to have a hit record, so we have them like Peters and Lee on bar stools, holding hands . . . ”
Audiences will be able to listen to Twizzle spill the beans about her nervous breakdown and hear Tony talk frankly about his time in rehab and the road to spiritual enlightenment, which spurred their remarkable comeback – winning Celebrity Wheelie Bins and marrying again for the fourth time.
It’s a different kind of show for the duo, better known for their comic takes on more classical subject matter, like the works of Oscar Wilde (The Importance of Being Earnest) and the Brontes (Withering Looks) – they have been described as “Britain’s favourite literary lunatics”.
The pair have been writing and performing together since 1985, beginning in stand-up and creating more than 15 original comedies for the stage. After the end of the show’s run, later in the spring, the pair will get going on their next project, Desperate to be Doris, featuring the music of Doris Day and the participation of local choirs at each venue.
TONY & Twizzle – The Glory Years is at the Unity Theatre on Thursday night and at Southport Arts Centre on February 6.
