Alan Balfour pulls no punches in his play about his grandfather Al Tabor (James Doherty), a violinist and popular bandleader who, few people know, was the man wrote the Hokey Cokey song.
Originally it was the “Hokey Pokey” song, derived from the street cries of ice-cream sellers before the war. Catholics reportedly think it is an offensive parody created by Puritans to mock the Latin mass.
No such fascinating detail exists in Balfour’s plodding play, directed by Ninon Jerome. He focuses instead on his philandering grandfather’s marriage and affair.
But why Tabor’s adultery is more interesting than anyone else’s is a mystery. (
New End Theatre, London NW3
Tel: 0870 033 2733)
