Patrick Barlow

The 39 Steps review

What is so impressive about the performance is how everybody is so clear about the theatrical convention they are employing.

The 39 Steps review

This is a must-see if you are a 39 Steps fan... even if not, it is worth a shot if you are into fast-paced fun and action that keeps you on your toes!

Desmond Olivier Dingle aka Patrick Barlow made a welcome return to R4 last week with his very particular take on the suffragette movement. Bravo to the producers of Woman's Hour for letting him loose on their turf with Giant Ladies That Changed the World. Aided and abetted by the hapless Raymond, Dingle assumed the role of an overbearing Edwardian patriarch outraged by the prospect of female emancipation: "You are but a rib of the man," he tells Raymond, as his querulous wife. There is something oddly endearing about these idiots, like watching your child getting everything wrong in the school nativity play.

The National Theatre of Brent, Patrick Barlow interview

Andrew Pettie meets Patrick Barlow, founder of The National Theatre of Brent and writer of the hit West End comedy The 39 Steps.

Those titans of dramatic insight, The National Theatre of Brent, Desmond Olivier Dingle and Raymond Box (aka Patrick Barlow and John Ramm) present the history of the Suffragettes in, of course, their own characteristic way, where Little Dorrit and her politician husband explore the issues before she joins the struggle. If you have not met The National Theatre of Brent before, be patient as they lumber through their introduction. The bubbling historical and linguistic stew which lies beyond is definitely worth it.

The peerless National Theatre of Brent, led by artistic director Desmond Olivier Dingle (Patrick Barlow) and his hapless "entire company" Raymond (John Ramm), turns its attention to controversial Britartist Tracey Emin and in particular her infamous bed - one of the greatest beds ever unmade. Charged by collector Charles Saatchi to come up with a new work Tracey is motivated by the "inspirational ladies of history" following an argument with her boyfriend over the state of the flat. This is pomposity-pricking of the highest order and absolutely hilarious.

If you dismiss the Discworld novels as the domain of 40-year-old men who still live with their mothers, think again. At his best, Terry Pratchett mixes great dollops of sly Swiftian satire with a jolly good story - and Small Gods is one of his best. The Great God Om (Patrick Barlow) has fallen on hard times. Despite having an entire city devoted to him, no one actually believes in him anymore. And without that oxygen of belief, he is reduced to the ignominious form of a tortoise. Robin Brooks's admirable adaptation keeps the Pratchett wit intact.

And now, how about a couple of laughs? This week The National Theatre of Brent returned to Radio 4 and Jason Byrne has come back to Radio 2. Brent has always been silly stuff, with the laughs mostly lying in the pompous incompetence of Desmond Olivier Dingle and his sidekick/entire theatre company, Raymond. This short series is called "Iconic Icons" - this week's was Bob Dylan - and the Brent duo were, as ever, gently amusing rather than laugh-out-loud. But none the worse for that.

Desmond Olivier Dingle, co-founder and half the entire company of the famed National Theatre of Brent, proudly opens this new season with a portrait of Bob Dylan, supported by Raymond Box (John Ramm) whose script-mangling is quite peerless. Travel with them to the shivering plains of America's Midwest to observe Bob (played by Desmond) knocking on his sweetheart's door in Hibbin, Minnesota. "We'll be happy but dull for the rest of our days," she says. But Bob listens to a Woody Guthrie record. And everything changes.

The esteemed National Theatre of Brent presents the first in an occasional series charting the lives of cultural giants of our time. First up is legendary, and indeed iconic, singer Bob Dylan. Artistic director Desmond Olivier Dingle and his entire company (Raymond) tell the story of how the young Robert Zimmerman left his home in Hibbin, Minnesota, and travelled to the folk clubs of New York in search of his hero Woody Guthrie. Once there he became Bob Dylan - taking his name from a book in Joan Baez's apartment: Dylan Thomas the Tank Engine - and adopted the life of a bohemian and fledgeling icon. It's an emotionally charged moment when our icon finally meets Guthrie and receives some salutary words of advice: "take off the stupid little hat, Bob".