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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Mark Fisher

Chemo Savvy review – cancer comedy inspired by actor Andy Gray is less about death than rebirth

Experts in landing a punchline … Chemo Savvy.
Experts in landing a punchline … Chemo Savvy. Photograph: Steve Ullathorne

What a lovely thing to have done. When the great actor Andy Gray was being treated for leukaemia before his Covid-related death in 2020, his friends agreed to stage a play inspired by his time in hospital. Hearing their plan, the nurses imposed one condition: it had to be funny.

Hard to see how it could be otherwise with this team. Chemo Savvy – a play on Kemosabe, Tonto’s name for the Lone Ranger – is written by panto stalwart Alan McHugh and stars Gray’s comedy colleagues Grant Stott, Jordan Young and Gail Watson, all experts in landing a punchline. So, yes, it is unashamedly about grief, guilt and the agony of treatment, but it is also about hope, reconciliation and laughter in the face of adversity.

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