Review: The Rainbow Connection @ 24:7 Theatre Festival

By Tom Midlane

"You are what you do, not where you come from”

A tragic accident has left lonely Joe (Anthony Crank) housebound in his plush Didsbury apartment with agoraphobia and chronic OCD, his only company the stray moggy he spoils with dry-cured, honey-roasted organic ham. However, his self-imposed exile is shattered when into his life walks feisty Shelley (Danielle Henry) from apartment nine, brandishing a Victoria sponge.

The Rainbow Connection offers a convincing portrait of the growth of a friendship, with Joe and Shelly cast by playwright Joanne Sherryden as the classic ‘odd couple’ – divided not only by skin colour, gender, class and sexual preferences, but their entire outlook on life. Gay composer Joe is a bruised cynic, clinging to the lifebuoy that is his rationalist worldview for dear life, while trainee make-up artist Shelly is a firm believer in “all that mystical stuff”.

At one stage in the play, Joe jokes “How the hell can we be mates if you never get any of my cultural references?” and yet the audience are left with a real sense of a two slightly wounded souls nurturing one another back to health. Shelly slowly chips away at Joe’s obsessive routines (after telling her to rearrange the television remotes in size order, she gently mocks: “Joe, there’s neat and then there’s serial killer neat”) while Joe gives Shelly some much-needed perspective on the married man she’s been seeing.

If there’s a small criticism to be made, it’s that the strict 60 minute time limit at 24:7 means Joe and Shelly’s friendship waxes and wanes at an alarming rate, giving The Rainbow Connection a hint of soap opera. That's not necessarily a bad thing though (it never did Twin Peaks any harm) and it's a minor quibble. The dialogue throughout crackles with life and wit, and Shelly’s speech patterns are littered with some brilliant malapropisms (talking of Joe’s agoraphobia, she delivers her verdict: “It’s obvious innit...you’re ambidextrous”).

For all Joe's suffering, this is very definitely not a dour slice of ‘grim up North’ naturalism and The Rainbow Connection is peppered with some beautiful comic set pieces. When Shelly finds out that Joe has composed ad jingles, she gets him to sing one he did for an incontinence pads commercial, which she then recognises and finishes off. It's hilarious, but it also perfectly illustrates Joe's arch, self-deprecating manner and Shelly's zest for life.

Adam Zane’s sympathetic direction keeps things uncluttered and brings the humour to the fore, while the performances of Anthony Crank and Danielle Henry add real emotional weight to Sherryden's script. Henry (Torchwood, Candy Cabs) lights up the stage as Shelly, perfectly capturing her blend of charisma, northern toughness and vulnerability, while Crank (Shameless, Coronation Street) gives a performance freighted with unexpressed emotion and bittersweet humour, making us root for Joe in spite of his flaws.  

The whole confection is slightly soft-centred (and the ending a tad treacly), but who cares? Only the most hard-hearted can avoid cooing when they see a rainbow. A definite recommendation.

Rating: 4/5

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