Ying Tong

Last night Elissa managed to get hold of two free tickets to see Ying Tong at the Opera House Drama Theatre. It was a story based around the Goons and Spike Milligan's descent into depression and mental illness. Well-acted, by excellent Goon impressionists with versatile voices almost up to Sellers and Milligan, and lots of energy, it was a great show to see at the end of a long day's debt-collecting. The Guardian, in a bid to be quoted on the poster, would probably have said "A rollicking ride through mental illness, Goon Show-style. If this is manic depression, count me in!". It was a little insensitive about mental illness in places, but no more than Spike himself was afterwards. As the Milligan in the play said, you have to laugh. He said that while recounting a tale from a dole queue, presumably from Spike's real life. He said the man in front of him dropped dead, from poverty and starvation. The guy behind him said "Must've got a job". So there were serious moments in among the laughs, enough to keep you thinking, but not enough to stop it being a fun night out. Highly recommended. 4 stars. (Do you think I'll get on the poster?).