On the Ceiling
Garrick, London WC2
until 31 December
Lapo (Ron Cook) and Ludo (Ralf Little) are the Vladimir and Estragon of the decorating world, the little men who rescue the reputation of big-name artists. It's 1508 and the Pope has pulled Michelangelo off the job of carving his tomb to place him in charge of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. But the sculptor has no experience of painting frescoes, so guess who has to bail him out?
Much of the action of Nigel Planer's new play, which transfers after a hit run at the Birmingham Rep, takes place in the scaffolding above the chapel, as Lapo and Ludo bitch and reminisce, waiting for a temperamental Michelangelo to turn up.
It's a brilliant premise, but not one that Planer fulfils. For a start, he can't decide whether this is a knockabout comedy or a more serious treatise on art and beauty. And we simply don't care enough about the relationship between the two men. Whenever the dialogue threatens to ignite, we realise another punchline is looming. More uncomfortable still is the undercurrent of homophobia - Michelangelo is portrayed as a mincing queen ('She's having another hufferini') by our red-blooded craftsmen.
Planer has done sterling research - and the art-historical content is fascinating - but this is stand-up masquerading as a play of ideas.
