Looking For Me Friend: The Music of Victoria Wood
★★★★☆ Glorious
Traverse: Wed 23 – Thurs 24 Apr 2025
Review by Hugh Simpson
Looking For Me Friend – The Music of Victoria Wood, at the Traverse for two performances only, is a fitting celebration of a national treasure as well as a well structured and touchingly personal piece.
First seen at the Fringe in 2022, it has since been touring in an expanded form. Performed by Paulus The Cabaret Geek, with Michael Roulston at the piano, the show unsurprisingly is built around the songs of Victoria Wood, the late, great and much missed writer, performer, musician, director and just about everything else.
Michael Roulston and Paulus in Looking For Me Friend. Pic: David Munn
And yes, The Ballad of Barry and Freda (otherwise known as Let’s Do It) is here, and many of the songs are extremely funny, but there are also more reflective, even downbeat moments in a collection of songs that hold up extremely well.
It is all done with command and affection by Paulus, clear of voice, expressive and always at the service of the song. He is ably assisted by Roulston – as noted by Paulus at the start, it takes two men to do the work of one woman. Half as well, he contends, but there is nothing wrong with the performances here.
Interspersed with the songs are Paulus’s reminiscences of how he discovered Wood and what she and her work meant to his own life and career. Directed with assurance by Sarah-Louise Young, this is pitched and paced just right. It is as much of a cabaret performance as a piece of theatre, but in the more intimate surroundings of Traverse 2 it works beautifully.
light and shade
There can be little doubt that the vast majority of the audience will be there because of their love of Wood’s work, but there is no sense of the production trading on that. Instead, it is a fully-formed piece in its own right, with the songs at its heart. There is a great deal of light and shade, and the personal elements are done with humour, open-heartedness and inclusivity.
Michael Roulston and Paulus in Looking For Me Friend. Pic: David Munn
It is certainly the case that anyone not thoroughly familiar with Wood might struggle occasionally to keep up. The frequent excerpts from, and allusions to, her writing – some of them decidedly on the throwaway side – could be genuinely baffling to the neophyte. The production is certainly aware of this, and always manages to keep the momentum going.
While devotees of Wood will certainly get more from this, there is something for everyone in an affecting and beautifully performed production.
Running time: One hour and 45 minutes (including one interval)
Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge St, EH1 2ED
Wednesday 23 – Thursday 24 April 2025
Daily at 8.00 pm
Details and tickets: Book here.
Leslie Town Hall, Leslie, KY6 3DA
Friday 25 April 2025
One show: 7.30pm
Details and tickets: Book here.
Continuing tour dates: Full details here.
Paulus website: https://thecabaretgeek.com/
Facebook: @TheCabaretGeek
Instagram: @TheCabaretGeek
ENDS
