Good Mourning Mrs Brown - 'divides opinion like Marmite'

by Patrick Astill

It really is no surprise that the TV show Mrs Brown's Boys divides opinion like Marmite. It certainly isn't one for the faint-hearted.

The programme has proved a surprise ratings hit for the BBC despite going down faster than the Titanic with the critics.

It's a traditional comedy staple in that the leading lady is Brendan O'Carroll in drag playing who is now – in the lamentable absence of Dame Edna Everage - the nation's favourite old dear.

But there the similarity ends. I saw the cultured, witty Aussie 25 years ago at the Theatre Royal when she was at the height of her powers, and I've now witnessed O'Carroll's foul-mouthed Dublin Mammy at the height of hers.

There's no doubting the show - and the performance - are a successful modern classic but its weakness, some might say its strength, lies in the toilet humour and toddler-level willy and wind gags.

Having said that, the stage version, Good Mourning Mrs Brown, quickly found its level with an adoring Concert Hall crowd and it's a sell-out for the whole run this week.

Every nuance, every thought, and much of the action is a well-sculpted joy as we share Mrs Brown's take on love, death and homosexuality.

This two-and-a-half-hour treat is an amalgamation of several plotlines from the television series, so in many ways there's nothing new – and some of the gags were prehistoric anyway.

Yet it's a warm and winning performance with a smile, a knowing glint in the eye and a well-practised cackle to get us all on-side.

Three main strands include grandad pretending to be dead so that he can find out what people really think of him, one daughter's love-life with a new boyfriend, and the son's efforts to ensure there's enough cash to put a deposit down on a new home for him and his pregnant wife.

It helps that O'Carroll surrounds himself with family and friends on stage as they all clearly relish the nightly challenge of getting through the show without giving in to too much laughter themselves, although it must be a struggle.

The comedy veteran clearly slips in many unexpected lines which work wonders with the audience and also have the cast in stitches.

A sample gag (and one of my favourites), is when the doctor says: "We'll need a sample of urine and a sample of his stools"; Grandad: "What did she say?"; Mrs Brown: "She wants your underpants!"

Perhaps the comparison should be less Edna Everage and more Les Dawson...

But it's a winning mix and one of the biggest cheers of the night was when O'Carroll promised at the curtain call that the cast would be back with the sequel – the second of a five-part trilogy.