The Covid Diaries 81 – The Old Vic, Bagdad Cafe

A review of Bagdad Cafe, a vibrant play which reopens the Old Vic. The mood will stay with me longer than the story, but a fun evening nonetheless.

From The Californian Desert To The Old Vic

Sometimes I think that if my knowledge of films were better, I wouldn’t have so many surprises when going to the theatre. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. But I do know that Bagdad Cafe, like After Life which I recently saw at the National Theatre, started life as a film before being adapted for the stage. I hadn’t (and still haven’t) seen either film, which left me open to delightful surprises. “Bagdad Cafe,” I mused. “Is it about Iraq?” Let me put you out of your misery – it is not.

Bagdad Cafe is the story of a German tourist Jasmin who, stranded after an argument with her husband, shows up at the Bagdad Oil and Gas Cafe. Which is right slap bang in the middle of nowhere (or somewhere in the desert in California or similar), run by unhappy couple Brenda and Sal. With nowhere else to go, Jasmin stays on at the Bagdad Cafe and, after a rocky start with Brenda, this becomes a tale of female friendship and how love can transcend many boundaries.

It sounds like quite a straightforward story, but Emma Rice’s adaptation is immensely quirky and you never know what is coming next. There are a bunch of poncho-wearing, non-speaking characters, the point of which I’m still not entirely sure. There are puppets (very fun). And there’s a lot of singing and dancing. The result is a play that wraps a sort of spell around you, so you emerge not quite sure what has happened but in a better mood than when you went in.

Calling You

A lot of the music revolves around the theme song to the 1987 film, Calling You, written by Bob Telford and originally performed by Jevetta Steele. It is a slow song full of longing, which introduces a note of pathos. The play is otherwise really irreverent. There’s an Australian tourist with a tiny tent teaching people to throw a boomerang. A line dancing policeman (actually both played by the same actor, Ewan Wardrop). An aging hippy with seductive ideas about paintings. And some very slapstick humour, including a ‘going down the stairs’ gag by Bettrys Jones’s bartender.

For me, the musicality of the evening was what really stood out. I wish absent husband Sal hadn’t been quite so absent, because his rich baritone voice is amazing. Sal is played by Le Gateau Chocolat, a drag and cabaret artist with whom I am now instantly obsessed. Many of the other performers also switch frequently into singing or playing instruments – an impressive cast to say the least.

Other than that, I almost felt like I will remember Bagdad Cafe more for the mood it evoked than for the story. Part of this is also down to the super set design by Lez Brotherston and Vicki Mortimer, lighting by Malcolm Rippeth, and puppetry by John Leader. It’s a lot of fun, and something very different. Recommended for those with a strong sense of whimsy!

On its own merits: 3.5/5
Implementing Covid measures: 4/5

Bagdad Cafe on until 21 August 2021

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