When I saw the blurb for Buyer & Cellar I was intrigued as it purported to tell the story of someone who worked in the shops in the basement beneath Barbra Streisand’s home. Whilst not a big fan of Ms Streisand, I have followed her career and when she recently published her autobiography, I thought it sounded interesting but it was over 900 pages long! So I decided to listen to the audiobook which would only take 48 hours and 8 minutes! It took me a lot longer but in that whole time, there was no mention of someone working in her basement so now I was even more intrigued.
After a few minutes of Buyer & Cellar, I was put right by Alex More (played by Rob Madge) who explained it was a fiction (like his hair – more of that later) and it was written by someone called Jon (Jonathan Tolins) – at that point it was all a bit meta as Madge explained everything to the audience. In 2012 Streisand had written a book called My Passion For Design and had built a mini shopping mall in the basement of her barn in Malibu. In the mall were various shops to store her stage and movie clothes, a collection of antique dolls and even a gift shop. The conceit of Tolins’ play (which debuted off-Broadway in 2013) is that More who’s an out-of-work actor finds out about the job. He’s been fired from working in Disneyland due to a confrontation with a nine-year-old child and is desperate. He’s also suited for the job as he’s worked in retail so ticks all the boxes and after an interview with Streisand’s housekeeper, he gets the job, which even comes with its own uniform.
At first, he doesn’t meet his employer but eventually, she comes down to the basement and after a frosty start, they build up a relationship that warms up, so much so that More is eventually giving Barbra career advice and coaching her as she prepares to play Mama Rose in Gypsy. However things start to go bad when Streisand uses More’s hair colour as a swatch for some throw cushions, she’s thinking of buying.
Buyer & Cellar is a very funny piece of theatre. There are some wonderful moments such as when Streisand is battering to buy one of her own dolls and she and More can’t agree on a price, she comes up with a money-off coupon that she’s printed herself. The relationship between employee and employer is tempestuous at times and More compares it to the Chinese man with the flower confronting the tank in Tiananmen Square!
On a simple set consisting of a blue wall, a copy of My Passion For Design and a chair, Madge gives a superb performance that’s sometimes broad, and camp but always beautifully nuanced. Their sly looks and asides are excellent and their comic timing is perfect. They also get to play other characters such as Alex’s boyfriend Barry, Streisand’s housekeeper and her husband James Brolin – and they portray them all splendidly. They are helped by the excellent sound design and piano playing of composer Emily Rose Simons who underscores Madge’s performance with snatches of some of Streisand’s best-known songs and it gives the piece an extra layer.
Although set in California, Tolins is a New York writer and the piece is imbued with the sharp, acerbic, camp humour that is typical of the city – after all, Streisand is from Brooklyn. It’s excellently directed by Kirk Jameson who pulls all the elements together. If I had one tiny criticism (and it is tiny), it could do with a bit of a trim. Billed on the theatre’s website as 90 minutes without an interval (yay!) and listed at 100 minutes at the theatre, it actually ran for around 110 minutes on the night and I could see some of the audience getting restless as the seats in the King’s Head aren’t the most comfortable especially if you’re sitting on them for nearly two hours!
That minor criticism aside, Buyer & Cellar is a very funny, superbly acted piece of theatre – the epitome of what a one-man show should be. Rob Madge is excellent; the writing is sharp and pithy – what more could you want from a night out at the theatre?
Review by Alan Fitter
Meet Alex, an out-of-work actor who finds himself working beneath Barbra Streisand’s Malibu home in her legendary basement shopping mall. A big hit in New York and London, Buyer & Cellar is an outrageous comedy about the price of fame, the cost of things, and the oddest of odd jobs.
Alex – Rob Madge
Understudy – Joseph Hewlett
Writer – Jonathan Tolins
Director – Kirk Jameson
Scenographer – Ingrid Hu
Lighting Designer – Jack Weir
Composer and Sound Designer – Emily Rose Simons
Wig Designer – Craig Forrest-Thomas
BUYER & CELLAR
King’s Head Theatre
18 September to 19 October 2024
