Only Fools and Horses The Musical – all the bits you’ll remember from the Peckham posy squeezed into two hours of gags and laughter (Grand Opera House until Saturday 28 June)

Bon soir mange tout. Brace yourselves because Only Fools and Horses The Musical is playing at the Grand Opera House this week, with all the classic elements bundled into a musical show by the original writer’s son Jim Sullivan and comedian Paul Whitehouse. Lovely jubbly.

John Sullivan’s original scripts for Only Fools and Horses have lasted well. The characterisation follows a pattern of individuals appearing cartoonish, yet carrying with them hidden inner turmoil. They’re flawed but forgivable, and in this stage production, full of melancholy.

Del Boy (Sam Lupton) pretends to be a sophisticated entrepreneur, throwing out phrases – in English never mind other languages like his favourite faux pas-ridden French – that don’t quite mean what he feels they do. Yet his real claim to fame is being the only family member who hung around to bring up his 13 years younger brother Rodney … at the cost of not finding love when he was younger.

Rodney (Tom Major who sometimes makes Rodders sould like Frank Spencer) is undermined and talked down to by everyone. So often he lives up to the jibe of being a bit of a “plonker”, yet at times he displays a sharp wit and has more than a smidgeon of Del’s ambition if only he would assert himself and properly step out of Del’s coercive shadow.

Down the pub, Boycie (Craig Berry) boasts about his good fortune and cultural prowess – he’s like a more-successful-but-still-bent Del – yet his lack of an heir hurts deeply. (I wonder if the cast noticed that the ‘Jaffa’ gag – Boycie is ‘seedless’ – gets a very different laugh in Belfast from every other venue!)

Trigger (Lee VG) is perhaps the simplest-drawn of the main cast, played as a village idiot, with no deeper dilemma to drive his character. (Though his Gaze Into My Ball song nearly steals the second act.) The audience cruelly delight at his ignorant mistakes, and revel in his Dave-ing of Rodney.

The stage version makes much use of the television show’s theme tune, casting it in a minor key when the mood needs to darken. It’s 1988 and Rodney is on the eve of marrying Cassandra, Del is about to meet Raquel, and Boycie and Marlene are navigating fertility treatment.

Into Peckham’s patriarchal and somewhat misogynist world step strong-minded women who see through the menfolk’s deceits. Unconfident struggling actress Raquel (Georgina Hagen) is the one to point out that what they all have in common is seeking hope against the odds, looking for a chance to do their best.

Unexpectedly, it’s Marlene – Boycie’s wife – who is cast as the moral backbone of the show. Played by Nicola Munns (who switches wig and costumes to become Cassandra), it’s Marlene’s unfiltered analysis that keeps everyone honest as she can’t help but blurt out the truth.

Alice Power’s set design with a central entrance and spinning walls allows the flat to turn into the Nag’s Head pub in an instant, sometimes without Grandad (Paul Whitehouse, who shows off his fine singing voice throughout) even having to get out of his seat. The five piece band belt through the original music by John Sullivan, Chas Hudges, Paul Whitehouse, Jim Sullivan and Stuart Morley, as well as covering atmospheric hits like Lovely Day and Holding Back the Years.

The well-established exaggerated caricatures make it almost impossible to build up any significant emotional jeopardy in scenes that in another show might trigger a tear or two. The biggest weakness with the touring production is the visible age gap between the casting and costuming of Rodney and Cassandra – the lanky lad looks like he might still be at school, while his banker fiancée could almost be Del’s age.

Director Caroline Jay Ranger sets up Only Fools and Horses The Musical to be played for laughs, with Sullivan and Whitehouse squeezing in all the classic moments you’d hope would be included. There’s even space to shoehorn in a chandelier and Uncle Albert. Cushty!

Catch it while you can at the Grand Opera House until Saturday 28 June before the yellow three wheeler and the Peckham posy head down to Dublin for the final week of the tour. Pot pourri!

Photo credit: Johan Persson

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