‘There are stories, music, humanity and more within this fine production.’
**** The Scotsman
‘This resurrection is a glorious vindication of a wonderful spirit. Highly entertaining, and brilliantly theatrical.’
**** Whatsonstage.com
‘Brilliant. Tells a fascinating story with both humour and brutal reality.’
***** British Theatre Guide
This warts-and-all portrait of the Blockheads’ lead singer explores the highs and lows of Ian Dury’s extraordinary career and inspirational life story. Featuring many of his best songs performed live, including Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick and Reasons To Be Cheerful.
Publicly, Ian Dury was a cheeky chappie and purveyor of saucy lyrics. Privately, he was a flawed maestro wrestling with demons and disability. This brilliant drama sees him reunited with his tour manager and friend Fred ‘Spider’ Rowe, blending amazing music with powerful scenes exploring Dury’s incredible triumph over adversity.
Returning to the Fringe after a sell-out 2008 premiere and an acclaimed West End season.
‘At the beginning of this year, Mat Whitecross’ freewheeling biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll chronicled the life of Ian Dury from his formative years, when he contracted polio, leaving him paralysed down the left side of his body, to pills, thrills and bellyaches of the 1970s, when he neglected his wife Betty and children, and pursued a turbulent relationship with girlfriend Denise. The film was every bit unconventional and fantastical as the man himself, interspersed with spirited renditions of some of Dury’s best-loved songs.
Rather than cramming the entire life of The Blockheads’ singer into 90 minutes, writer-director Jeff Merrifield elects to focus on three pivotal periods in his energetic stage production, Hit Me! The Life And Rhymes Of Ian Dury. So rather than dwelling on his Dickensian childhood at boarding school for disabled children, Merrifield begins Dury’s journey in 1978 and concludes in March 2000 – when tour manager and devoted friend Fred ‘Spider’ Rowe receives the sickening telephone call about Dury’s premature death from liver cancer. ‘I kept putting off going to see him. Why did I do that? I should have f***ing gone,’ laments Fred (Josh Darcy), unable to comprehend the loss of a flawed maestro, who lived life to the excess and carved out his niche as the forefather of punk.
The play opens at Cats**t Mansions, Kennington (Dury’s affectionate name for his top flat floor at 40 Oval Mansions) just as Ian (Mark White) is making his mark on the music scene as the gregarious frontman of The Blockheads. Andrew Lloyd Webber calls to see If the singer would be interested in providing the lyrics for a new musical about cats and after consultation with Fred, Ian politely declines. ‘Andrew Lloyd W****r,’ chuckles the tour manager, not realising then what they were turning down. The pair bicker like siblings and Ian flourishes, getting a huge buzz every time he steps onto the stage: ‘I got all the adrenaline I used to get breaking the law. Rock ‘n’ Roll – it’s the perfect crime!’ he grins. Fred talks to us with great affection about Ian, describing him as someone who would ‘stand up for all the people who drew the short straw in life: the colourful, cockney characters’ and relating his girlfriend Denise’s words: ‘She said you were an extraordinary ordinary person. I think that’s a beautiful phrase.’
Part two moves to Digby Mansions in Hammersmith in 1990, where he recalls his early years at the Royal College Of Art. ‘I was thrilled when I got into the RCA. Peter Blake was our tutor,’ he boasts. ‘In the end I became a pop star because it was easier than being a painter.’ The relationship between manager and star becomes increasingly strained and Fred arrives at the flat one day to discover the place in disarray. ‘I love what you’ve done with the place,’ he jokes. Part three is set in Keinton Mandeville, Somerset, where Fred receives the tragic news. Just when it seems like the play might end on a downer, Merrifield veers from reality to fantasy and ends as he begins – with a rousing musical number.
Hit Me! The Life And Rhymes Of Ian Dury is a terrific two-hander that provides an intimate portrait of the friendship between two very different men. Darcy and White inhabit their roles with real energy, the former impersonating Janet Street Porter, who interviewed Ian about his impact on the music scene. ‘Couldn’t understand a word she said,’ quips Ian. Performances of Billericay Dickie and Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick get toes tapping throughout the Debating Hall and give us plenty of reasons to be cheerful.’
‘Apart from the infectious ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’, I wasn’t familiar with singer Ian Dury’s work, but by the end of this play I was mesmerised by the depiction of a flawed charismatic rogue and self styled citizen’s poet. ‘Hit Me’ tells the entertaining and moving story of Dury’s childhood blighted by polio and his subsequent rise to musical stardom. Well acted throughout, never once does this hour and a half show feel like it’s outstaying its welcome. This is partly due to the peppering of musical numbers that break the tension of Dury’s powerful monologues and celebrate his music beyond the limits of any tribute act. A sublime denouement inspired satisfied whoops and cheers from the audience.’
Hit Me! The Life And Rhymes Of Ian Dury
Gilded Balloon Teviot (Venue 14)
4 - 30 August (not 10, 17 or 24 August)
Start time 15:00
Running time 90 minutes
Tickets £5 - £11
Online Bookings:
Venue | Fringe | Comedy Festival
Phone Bookings:
Venue 0131 622 6552
Fringe 0131 226 0000
Hit Me! Tour Website
‘There are stories, music, humanity and more within this fine production.’
**** The Scotsman
‘This resurrection is a glorious vindication of a wonderful spirit. Highly entertaining, and brilliantly theatrical.’
**** Whatsonstage.com
‘Brilliant. Tells a fascinating story with both humour and brutal reality.’
***** British Theatre Guide
This warts-and-all portrait of the Blockheads’ lead singer explores the highs and lows of Ian Dury’s extraordinary career and inspirational life story. Featuring many of his best songs performed live, including Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick and Reasons To Be Cheerful.
Publicly, Ian Dury was a cheeky chappie and purveyor of saucy lyrics. Privately, he was a flawed maestro wrestling with demons and disability. This brilliant drama sees him reunited with his tour manager and friend Fred ‘Spider’ Rowe, blending amazing music with powerful scenes exploring Dury’s incredible triumph over adversity. Returning to the Fringe after a sell-out 2008 premiere and an acclaimed West End season.
Latest news
‘At the beginning of this year, Mat Whitecross’ freewheeling biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll chronicled the life of Ian Dury from his formative years, when he contracted polio, leaving him paralysed down the left side of his body, to pills, thrills and bellyaches of the 1970s, when he neglected his wife Betty and children, and pursued a turbulent relationship with girlfriend Denise. The film was every bit unconventional and fantastical as the man himself, interspersed with spirited renditions of some of Dury’s best-loved songs.
Rather than cramming the entire life of The Blockheads’ singer into 90 minutes, writer-director Jeff Merrifield elects to focus on three pivotal periods in his energetic stage production, Hit Me! The Life And Rhymes Of Ian Dury. So rather than dwelling on his Dickensian childhood at boarding school for disabled children, Merrifield begins Dury’s journey in 1978 and concludes in March 2000 – when tour manager and devoted friend Fred ‘Spider’ Rowe receives the sickening telephone call about Dury’s premature death from liver cancer. ‘I kept putting off going to see him. Why did I do that? I should have f***ing gone,’ laments Fred (Josh Darcy), unable to comprehend the loss of a flawed maestro, who lived life to the excess and carved out his niche as the forefather of punk.
The play opens at Cats**t Mansions, Kennington (Dury’s affectionate name for his top flat floor at 40 Oval Mansions) just as Ian (Mark White) is making his mark on the music scene as the gregarious frontman of The Blockheads. Andrew Lloyd Webber calls to see If the singer would be interested in providing the lyrics for a new musical about cats and after consultation with Fred, Ian politely declines. ‘Andrew Lloyd W****r,’ chuckles the tour manager, not realising then what they were turning down. The pair bicker like siblings and Ian flourishes, getting a huge buzz every time he steps onto the stage: ‘I got all the adrenaline I used to get breaking the law. Rock ‘n’ Roll – it’s the perfect crime!’ he grins. Fred talks to us with great affection about Ian, describing him as someone who would ‘stand up for all the people who drew the short straw in life: the colourful, cockney characters’ and relating his girlfriend Denise’s words: ‘She said you were an extraordinary ordinary person. I think that’s a beautiful phrase.’
Part two moves to Digby Mansions in Hammersmith in 1990, where he recalls his early years at the Royal College Of Art. ‘I was thrilled when I got into the RCA. Peter Blake was our tutor,’ he boasts. ‘In the end I became a pop star because it was easier than being a painter.’ The relationship between manager and star becomes increasingly strained and Fred arrives at the flat one day to discover the place in disarray. ‘I love what you’ve done with the place,’ he jokes. Part three is set in Keinton Mandeville, Somerset, where Fred receives the tragic news. Just when it seems like the play might end on a downer, Merrifield veers from reality to fantasy and ends as he begins – with a rousing musical number.
Hit Me! The Life And Rhymes Of Ian Dury is a terrific two-hander that provides an intimate portrait of the friendship between two very different men. Darcy and White inhabit their roles with real energy, the former impersonating Janet Street Porter, who interviewed Ian about his impact on the music scene. ‘Couldn’t understand a word she said,’ quips Ian. Performances of Billericay Dickie and Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick get toes tapping throughout the Debating Hall and give us plenty of reasons to be cheerful.’
http://www.freshair.org.uk/node/1674
‘You don’t have to be an Ian Dury fan to enjoy this outstanding show… ‘
Read the full review here.
‘Apart from the infectious ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’, I wasn’t familiar with singer Ian Dury’s work, but by the end of this play I was mesmerised by the depiction of a flawed charismatic rogue and self styled citizen’s poet. ‘Hit Me’ tells the entertaining and moving story of Dury’s childhood blighted by polio and his subsequent rise to musical stardom. Well acted throughout, never once does this hour and a half show feel like it’s outstaying its welcome. This is partly due to the peppering of musical numbers that break the tension of Dury’s powerful monologues and celebrate his music beyond the limits of any tribute act. A sublime denouement inspired satisfied whoops and cheers from the audience.’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tbvbw
‘This warts-and-all portrait of the Blockheads lead singer explores Durys extraordinary career and life.’
Read the full review here:
http://allthefestivals.com/shows/hit-me-the-life-and-rhymes-of-ian-dury.html
http://www.gildedballoon.co.uk/artistsmedia/performersblogs/item/34-hit_me
The video below shows the musical highlights of the production, please note it contains strong language from the very start.