The League Of Gentlemen - Live At Drury Lane DVD

What do you think this is... Dick Whittington?" shouts Reece Shearsmith in The League of Gentlemen--Live at Drury Lane--the West End version of the BBC2 series--"You'll be wanting to see men dressed as women next!" Reece is, needless to say, dragged-up to the nines at this point. The first half of the production--which Shearsmith, alongside Mark Gatiss and Steve Pemberton took to Drury Lane in March 2001--sees the trio revisit their Perrier Award winning show of 1997. Clad in tuxedos, the League explore a public schoolboy's love of theatre and smut with sketches that... border on post-modern: football fans chant "Ooh-ahh, Ophelia" during Hamlet; a Restoration comedy turns into a Faustian pact; Artic explorers battle repressed homosexuality. The second, and funnier half sees the action move to Royston Vasey, as Tubs looks over the audience and coos "we can't kill them all". The favourite characters transfer to the stage brilliantly, thanks to swift direction and filming that captures every macabre expression. Herr Lipp--looking like Richard Whitely in twin set and pearls--is a scream, and the closing mystery of "Who Shot Pauline?" is heaven for any League fanatic. --Ian WatsonOn the DVD: Not a great many extras here, but a couple of additional scenes are welcome. We get Benjamin and the Dentons at breakfast, familiar from Series 1 of the TV series, plus demented newsagent owner "Pop" and his dynastic ambitions for his two sons. There's also the "Big Woman" phone message which first appeared in the League's radio series, multi-angle versions of two sketches ("Scott of the Antarctic" and "Go Johnny Go Go Go Go"), Web site links and a screensaver. --Mark Walker [show more]

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