It’s Headed Straight Towards Us

Having comedy legends Adrian Edmundson and Nigel Planer as it’s writers this almost absurdist comedy is expectedly laugh-out-loud funny, and it is. Then add Rufus Hound and Samuel West as it’s two warring theatricals and you get a perfect casting. So why isn’t this an almighty hit?

Set on location in Iceland on a day’s shoot for an on-going children’s Sci Fi series the two actors with history are thrown together in a plush Winnebago that is separated from the rest of the shoot. Set on the other side of a glacial ravine, which is prone to tremors from the volcano it is sat on, brings all the threat of danger you could possibly hope for.

Bitter rivalries exist between type-cast actor Hugh Delavois played by Samuel West who is for ever playing butlers, and faded movie star Gary Savage played by Rufus Hound whose reputation for drink induced aggression and flirtation has led to his decline and having been ‘mercy cast’ as Angry Thermidon with one solitary line. Both give excellent top-notch performances. Samuel West brings wonderful presence to the simpering Hugh and Hound strides the stage with all the overblown ‘luvviedom’ he can muster in a fiery red crustation costume. Trying to control these two protagonists. Is Leela played by the delightful Nendra Neururer, her struggle to maintain calm in the ever-increasing disaster is a wonderful contrast to the blustering actors she is trapped with.

Given this outlandish scenario and the pressure-cooker threat of the Winnebago sliding into the ravine, created effectively with the rocking set designed by Michael Taylor and clever direction by Rachel Kavanaugh why was this play not fulfilling? The spats between the theatrical dinosaurs Savage and Delavois are overflowing with one liners and hugely memorable moments, but this takes up so much stage time that the plot of impending doom, and reactions to it, gets lost in all the fun.

Although massively entertaining It’s Headed Straight Towards Us doesn’t quite arrive and has a low-key ending that feels at odds with threat that they are facing.


Picture: Samuel West (Hugh) and Rufus Hound (Gary) in It's Headed Straight Towards Us at the Park Theatre
Picture credit: Pamela Raith Photography