Ian Watt - Independent Review of "John Laurie, Frazer & I"

Most of the cast of Dad's Army is either dead or in EastEnders. The Scottish actor John Laurie, who played the elderly prophet of doom Private Frazer, falls into the former category though his spirit is very much alive in this flawed – though sporadically moving – one-man show.

We learn that before going to acting school, Laurie was an architect's clerk in his native Scotland. At 19, he was sent to fight in the Somme but after a year he developed emphysema and was sent home. As Laurie, Ian Watt offers an affectionate portrait of a man trapped inside his own screen persona. The actor spent the latter half of his career being typecast as a cantankerous Scotsman, even though his early years yielded major roles on the stage alongside Olivier and Gielgud.

The show skates over the details of Laurie's personal life, providing us with a list of achievements rather than a rounded portrait. It's only near the end that we hear of Laurie's two marriages, leaving all sorts of questions hanging in the air. Watt is terrific, though. If only the writing matched his performance, this would be a truly great play.

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