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Late But Live : Johnson & BoswellJohnson and Boswell – Late But Live ★★★

By Lyn Gardner in The Guardian Posted on Sunday, August 9th, 2015

Stewart Lee’s celebration and demolition of the 18th-century double act Johnson and Boswell is not so much a play as a conceit, but it’s a clever one. Taking the form of a 20th-century book launch for Boswell’s tome, it has the puppyish Boswell (Miles Jupp) trying to get Johnson to perform, as much in the interests of commerce as hero worship. Billing Johnson as “the greatest wit of our day and yours”, Boswell incriminates himself as he announces with glee: “I wrote down everything he said – and sold it.”

Astonished that the Scots might be found at any literary event, man of letters Johnson (Simon Munnery) refuses to play the celebrity book-signing game and makes his lack of pleasure at being back in Scotland quite clear. “As a dog returns to his vomit, so I have returned to the land of the deep-fried pizza,” he declares. His response to the “Welcome to Scotland” road signs is to drawl dryly, “Indeed, you are welcome to Scotland.” As eagerly as Boswell lauds his birthplace, Johnson puts it down: “To say that a Scot speaks English is to say a dog eats a bone – when he merely mauls it.”

To a great degree, this is just a stand-up set with costumes taking place in a theatre. Those with little knowledge of the duo may be slightly at sea, but the piece successfully transposes Johnsonian wit from one century to another as Johnson demolishes the Scottish way of life and speech. (“The Scots have no use for letters – particularly consonants.”)

There may be something more serious to be said about the nature of celebrity and mythmaking, but the pleasure here is in watching Jupp and Munnery play off each other. Any man who is tired of that is tired of life.

· Until August 26. Box office: 0131-228 1404.

Written by Lyn Gardner in The Guardian on 9th August 2015. Filed Under: Johnson & Boswell, Late But Live, Reviews
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