'The Harder They Come' at the Oxford Playhouse

A final viewing of 'The Harder They Come' on stage before it vanishes for the time being took place in Oxford yesterday afternoon. The play is strangely life-affirming despite it's subject matter and the comic moments, the music, singing and dancing complement it perfectly. Great acting and great musicians bring the Jimmy Cliff film to life on stage and I've been delighted to be part of the experience seven times now.

A mere one hour train journey from London Paddington and a ten minutes walk into town to the Oxford Playhouse with it's newly refurbished front of house with a nice bar area that sells Guinness and a range of odd beers. We went in and found Precious talking to one of the audience so I mustered my courage and said 'Hello Precious' as we walked by, an instant sign that I'd seen the play before and she said 'Hello guys!' back. Sitting four rows from the stage is the closest I've ever been to the stage, right in the middle of the row for a perfect view.

It was the same cast as I saw at Wimbledon a couple of weeks ago (except the policeman had been promoted to Inspector and he made a very good job of it, especially during 'Pressure Drop'). Pinky and Precious made a very convincing partnership, having grown further into their parts and Miss Daisy was as dangerous as ever with her bottle of rum, scaring off the police when they come searching for Ivanhoe. Matthew J Henry has also grown into his part as Ivan, still giving it his everything in the intricate and exaggerated dance moves.

I was most impressed with the whole cast and musicians, all of them putting everything into their parts despite it being a hot and humid Saturday afternoon and the theatre being only half full. Despite the lack of bodies in the audience we made up for the numbers with the noise at the relevant places and getting up to sing and skank along with the cast for the megamix at the end.

It was a nice way to say farewell to the show that's given me so much pleasure and no few fond memories. Like Pedro giving us a 15 minute ganga break at half time (I still haven't found the ganga ice-cream) and his trademarked 'blessed love', Longa stealing sweets from the audience, Chris Tummings inspiring the fear of audience participation when he played the Inspector and being called 'huggly', Pinky and Precious, Miss Daisy and Miss Brown with her hats ('international style, local prices' - I protected mine yesterday, just in case) Elsa-mon and Ivan with his dancing and, of course, all those great reggae songs from the '70s. And, yesterday, I discovered beer-mats on the tables advertising the show with a photo of Pedro on one side and Ivan and Pinky on the other side - naturally, I borrowed a couple as souvenirs.

If you get a chance to see this show on the rest of its tour then don't miss it. Looking at the cost of tickets, my train fare and the ticket for the show together cost less than my ticket to see 'The Tempest' last week, and I know which production I prefer.

Thanks for all the fun guys, it's been great! I'll be watching out for what you all do next.