Theatre / 65 min / £11, £10 / 14+
Showing @ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug, 15.30
‘Has anyone ever told you, you look like Alan Bates?’ Rob Crouch mischievously asks a nervous audience member. And as he swaggers around the stage, necking stubbies, you could almost be convinced it’s the real thing. Oliver Reed: Wild Thing is a one-man dramatisation of Oliver Reed’s final hours, with the man himself relating his story. The dialogue is highly entertaining, drawing from Reed’s autobiography amongst other sources. Crouch, apart from a striking likeness to Reed, has charisma on tap – and Reed was nothing if not charismatic. He also has the remarkable ability to interact with the audience without losing any characterisation. But it is the grace of the delicate moments that makes the play great viewing, never just an impersonation of a drunken brawler, which it easily could have been.