Review: THE FUNNY GIRLS, New Wimbledon Theatre Studio
Barbra Streisand and Joan Rivers spar with each other, just before they hit big and just after.
By: Gary Naylor Sep. 21, 2021
In a tiny dressing room of a tiny theatre so far off Broadway that's it's possibly nearer Wimbledon's than New York's, two actresses kvetch at their lots. One is divorced already with a fine line in put-downs and has recently seen Lenny Bruce's stand-up routine and thinks she might try something similar, while the other frets about her mother and her schnozzle, but wins $50 every time she enters a local singing competition.
The former is, of course, Joan Rivers and the latter Barbra Streisand, each caught at a turning point in their careers as they're about to leave the acting behind and set off to superstardom as America's leading comedienne and vocalist. The perfect moment for writer, Roy Smiles, to give us a lot of fun with Jewish mother gags, bitchy one-liners and the foreshadowing of what we know will come. "He's seen Judy Garland 28 times..." Joan says of Barbra's somewhat hesitant beau.
In the second half, we've fast-forwarded a decade to 1969 when Barbra was playing Vegas and Joan had an open invitation to the Johnny Carson Show. They've made it, but Joan is jealous and Barbra still that little bit insecure - and so the kvetching is back.
Wisely, Mia Tomlinson (Joan) and Rosanna Harris (Barbra) give mannered performances exaggerating the Joanness and the Barbraness to a point short of caricature but beyond any suggestion of indulging the conceit of impersonations - this is not a tribute show. Once director, Michael Strassen, catches that tone and we tune in, we can enjoy the comic timing, the in-jokes and the verbal jousting that lies at the heart of this two-hander.
There isn't really anywhere to go as the dressing room spat reaches its crescendo (we all enjoyed the first half closing scene reference to Funny Girl but they can't do that again) so the play does rather fizzle out with an unsaid "The rest is history" vibe. That said, it's a tight 90 minutes that sends you to YouTube for some old Rivers' gags and for another chance to have Streisand insist that nobody is going to rain on her parade, And nobody, not even Joan, ever has.
The Funny Girls is at New Wimbledon Theatre Studio until 24 September and Upstairs at the Gatehouse from 26 October to 21 November
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