Review: Midnight Tango, Cantebury's Marlowe Theatre, Tuesday, May 8

by Keith Hunt

Strictly speaking it takes two to tango. The two in Midnight Tango are Vincent and Flavia (no surnames needed but for completeness Simone and Cacace), the best known exponents of the Argentine variety in this country.

While 90 minutes of the charismatic TV partnership alone would undoubtedly be an entertaining spectacle, it wouldn't make for good theatre, and so the support of five other equally adept couples and the comedy partnership of Teddy Kempner and Tricia Deighton were inspired.

Following a successful stint in the West End, the passion and fire of romance and intrigue in a late-night smoke enshrouded Beunos Aires bar recreated at the Marlowe Theatre this week makes us forget for a while the wettest drought on record.

Co-produced by Arlene Phillips, cruelly quick-stepped off the Strictly judging panel, the bar bursts into life with the Tango Siempre musicians, singer Miguel Angel and leg flailing cast.

From then on it's a whirl of kicks, flicks, split dresses and a dancing duel between Vicent and villainous El Gato (Leonel di Cocco) over the affections of a flirty Flavia, as she tosses her glossy bobbed hair, while twisting into seemingly impossible shapes.

By the frenzied end, we were clapped out and well and truly tangoed.

Midnight Tango is at the Marlowe, Canterbury, until Saturday May 12.