Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool
Until August 29th
★★★★½

Take Me Home, County Road is a light-hearted look at the rather lacklustre life of a Liverpool couple whose marriage, like husband Mick’s electrical career, seems to have lost its spark.

Shelly has long since given up any serious thoughts of becoming a singer. Apart from the occasional karaoke night at the local pub, her dreams of performing have been pushed aside by everyday life. Now she is facing the prospect of redundancy, while Mick is hardly ever home, apparently working all the hours God sends.

Or is he?

He’s forgotten their anniversary, Shelly suspects he may be having an affair, and suddenly her already humdrum existence looks as though it could be heading for complete meltdown.

As the title suggests, Adam McCoy’s new musical comedy is centred firmly around country music. After a clever projected opening sequence, using Google Earth to zoom us in from the edge of space right into Shelly’s kitchen on County Road, Helen Carter opens the country songbook with a suitably heartfelt rendition of Willie Nelson’s “Crazy”, made famous, of course, by Patsy Cline.

Enter Shelly’s mum, Joan, played by Royal Court favourite Eithne Browne. Her attempts to steer her daughter away from thoughts of divorce include a wonderfully powerful performance of “Stand by Your Man”, which brought a rapturous response from the enthusiastic audience.

Then there are Shelly’s neighbours: the delightfully dipsy Margy, played by Keddy Sutton, and the wonderfully camp Anthony, played by writer Adam McCoy. Between them, they set about lifting Shelly out of the doldrums and persuading her to enter the local heat of television talent show The Next Big Thing.

Cue more songs, including “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” and “Make the World Go Away”, and from this point the whole show steps up another gear, with some fabulous dance moves from McCoy and plenty of energy from the entire cast.

I won’t spill the beans on the final outcome, but suffice to say that when Shelly eventually gets her television audition, Helen Carter’s vocal performance of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” would surely have earned her a golden buzzer had this been the real thing.

There is also a lovely moment when Mick serenades Shelly while accompanying himself on guitar, having secretly been taking lessons. It was refreshing to see this more serious and musical side of Lenny Wood, an actor Royal Court audiences are perhaps more accustomed to seeing playing loveable dozy half-wits.

Throughout the show, the energy and enthusiasm of the five-strong cast is matched by the audience, who were completely engaged from curtain-up right through to the standing ovation at the end.

Like all five members of the cast, Adam McCoy is a familiar Royal Court face, but Take Me Home, County Road marks his debut as a playwright. Under Emma Bird’s direction, he has delivered a warm, funny and thoroughly entertaining show which knows exactly what its audience wants.

If I had one small reservation, I would have liked to see the Royal Court’s more usual format of a live band providing the musical backing. With a show so firmly rooted in country music, live musicians could perhaps have added another dimension. That said, it certainly doesn’t detract from the fabulous vocal performances of the five performers on stage.

And they weren’t the only ones singing.

By the finale, almost every voice in the auditorium appeared to be joining in with the suitably reworded “Take Me Home, Country Roads”.

If you enjoy an easy-to-watch comedy, love a bit of country music and fancy an evening when you can simply sit back, laugh and sing along, then catch Take Me Home, County Road before it reaches the end of its run on August 29th. [Box Office]

Cast:
Shelly – Helen Carter
Joan – Eithne Browne
Anthony – Adam McCoy
Margy – Keddy Sutton
Mick – Lenny Wood

Writer: Adam McCoy
Director: Emma Bird

★★★★½

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