The Theatrical Tapes of Leonard Thynn (by Adrian Plass)

(Amazon UK link)

Having decided to re-read Adrian Plass’s fictional books, I reached ‘The Theatrical Tapes of Leonard Thynn’, third in the original ‘Sacred Diaries’ trilogy. I last read this in 2017, and recalled finding it amusing. The first time I read it, which was probably in the early 1990s shortly after it was published, I had to put the book down during one scene, as I was laughing so much.

On subsequent reads I knew what was coming, but still appreciated the book. And this time, once again, I found myself chuckling aloud several times. While I knew the main story and the brilliant ‘twist’, I had entirely forgotten the lead-up to the main event.

The story is about a ten-minute production which Adrian’s fictional church were planning to put on, for a local church competition. I’m not sure why they were only supposed to have a couple of weeks to put it together, but inevitably it starts with a lot of discussion and some misunderstandings. Several people have ideas of short plays or readings, most of which are unsuitable (albeit amusingly bad) but eventually a play, written by Adrian’s neighbour, is chosen. It’s written in verse, and tells the well-known Biblical story of Daniel in the Lions’ Den. 

It’s not a long book, less than 140 pages and only nine chapters. And the premise is that Leonard Thynn, Adrian’s somewhat strange friend, has a tape recorder and is recording all the rehearsals and the eventual play itself. It’s not clear why he does that, nor why he apparently allows Adrian to transcribe everything. But it works extremely well. 

Leonard Thynn’s mother, whose first name we never learn, is rather deaf so she makes several amusing errors; but she takes her task as wardrobe mistress seriously. Leonard himself is asked to be the prompter, and that leads to quite a poignant scene as he discovers what a prompter is… although he never entirely gets it. And then there’s a young man who wants a smoke machine, with smoke in every scene. 

Edwin, the elder of the church, exerts a calming and diplomatic influence over everyone, while Adrian’s son Gerald provides a lot of humour, as well as some unexpectedly deep comments. The most interesting subplot is perhaps the one involving the Flushpools, the henpecked Stenneth and his strict, overbearing (and often rude) wife Victoria. Assigned a part in the play that’s entirely inappropriate for her character, she slowly realises how harsh she has been, as she thinks about the role she needs to take on. 

There’s a whole lot more to this very cleverly crafted book. I would have thought it would be quite difficult to read an apparent transcript but it’s so well done that I barely thought about the potential awkwardness. As for the play itself - well, it would be a spoiler to say anything about it, other than that I love reading that section every time. I do feel a touch incredulous about the way in which several of the actors manage to re-write their lines (rhyming) in an impromptu way, but it’s a minor issue. 

There's a Christian thread running through this book, of course: this is, after all, a church production. Some excellent points are subtly made, such as the importance of this kind of group, working on a project rather than putting on happy masks on a Sunday morning. And there are some prayers, but they're honest and real. This contrasts to some extreme Christian jargon - exaggerated, I hope - which may go over the heads of people who have not been part of church circles.

It’s best to read this after ‘The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass aged 37 ¾’, which introduces most of these characters, otherwise it would be quite confusing. The second book, ‘The Horizontal Epistles of Andromeda Veal’ isn’t so important as background, although I always like reading all three in order.  Definitely recommended. 

 

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