Living The Big Life In E15 4 9
sliced other members of the cast. Marcus Powell as
Dennis proves himself a wonderful dancer, with
sexy hip-swaying that could perhaps rival even
Mrs Aphrodite’s infamous Royston.
As the characters struggle to come to terms with
the hard reality of their new life in London, Sirett’s
writing continues to find the humour in desperation.
When Ferdy (Victor Romero-Evans) arrives home in
dust-covered overalls one night, Zulieka (Maureen
Hibbert) scolds him, “Ferdinand, you are filthy!”
to which he replies, “It’s only asbestos.” The
audience laughs, side-stepping the uncomfortable
truth that the deadly dust was universally believed
harmless until several decades later. The Big Life
doesn’t try to laugh everything off though. It
manages to avoid being flippant, including several
scenes of genuine sadness, such as when Dennis,
whose brother fought and died for Britain in WWII,
asks of no one in particular, “What have I done to
these people?” after 3 months of going for job
interviews and always finding that the position
has “just been filled”.
Perhaps th R