Not two weeks ago did we announce that unlucky Nancy hopeful Amy Booth-Steel was caught up in the great big granite balloon that was All Bob’s Women. Now it seems like the washout-lightening has struck again as this weekend the Arts Theatre announced that its ‘one man’ ventriloquist show The Two and Only is also closing early. Despite receiving largely positive reviews, the Tony Award winning show failed to attract anything like the numbers it was expecting this side of the Atlantic.

So what’s next for the Arts Theatre? I’m pretty sure that a couple of duds aren’t really going to damage the reputation of the theatre that once premiered the English language version of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot but it doesn’t look good does it?

Although, actually, maybe it’s not as bad as all that. With the West End literally awash with revivals of re-runs of revivals, isn’t it a breath of fresh air to get a theatre that is brave enough to give new stuff a go? It might not have worked out for Amy Goof-Steel or this puppet chap, whoever the hell he is, but at least they were trying something original. The shame is, I suppose, that these shows weren’t given much of a run. The ventriloquist Jay Johnson’s one man show for example, despite an award winning stretch on Broadway and tip top reviews both there and in London, was given less than two weeks to prove itself. Just because punters weren’t kicking the doors in a week and a half before it opened doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have picked up.

Still, business is business and if the Arts Theatre felt they were loosing too much money on the show the only sensible option was to close. As the theatrical press gather round to mock the fringe playhouse however, best we remind them that at least they’re attempting to stage something fresh and thought provoking. No painting-by-numbers ever made it into the Tate did it?

Technorati Tags: all bobs women, amy booth steel, amy steel, arts theatre, id do anything, jay johnson, jessie buckley, london theatres, nancys, samantha barks, two and only, ventriloquist, west end comedy

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 3:21 pm and is filed under Theatre. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.