003 Historical Comedy – New
The Len Dimension is
evidently the sequel to a previous satirical tale by Peter Strickland about the
eponymous Len (played by Toby Jones who is popping up everywhere on BBC Radio
drama). But you didn’t need to have
heard the first story to understand this one, which was laugh-out-loud funny in
places. Set in the early ‘80s, Len is a
struggling actor with delusions of grandeur.
The sound design (by Steve Bond) really helped both in cementing it as a
period piece and as a piece in which we never know if what Len is experiencing
is real or not. Self-absorbed and
abrasive, Len alienates everyone around him, including his partner Alice
(Belinda Stewart Wilson), who leaves him at the end of the play. In between, you have scenes of Len failing to
make a splash as a reader of horoscopes for a phone line, getting jealous of
Alice’s Greek instructor Pericles, and playing the part of a pedophile in a
public service announcement. It was
well-made and darkly enjoyable. Directed
by Peter Strickland, it also starred Steven Orram, Harry Mead, Ted Tomlin,
Claudia Dufy, Pano Masty, and Miranda Hinckley.
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