Tim Luscombe
The Death of Gogol and the 1969 EuroVision Song Contest
Is Lenny merely part of Stuart’s imagination, and if not, why won’t she let him switch off the Eurovision Song Contest and go and post his treatise?
The Death of Gogol and the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest is a unique entertainment – a musical-tragical-comedy using songs from the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest, and a one-man show with a cast of thousands. It veers from a celebration of glorious euro-campery, to a moving exploration of one man’s agoraphobia, via a quick exploration of Cossacks.
The play premiered at the Drill Hall, London, 2005.
Commissioned by the Drill Hall, The Death of Gogol and the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest is Tim Luscombe’s second play with a song contest theme (the first, EuroVision, was also produced at the venue before transferring to the West End) and The Death of Gogol… is a triumph.
However, it isn’t just a celebration of Eurovision; it’s far more than that.
Rainbow Network
This production encapsulates as perfect a balance of tragi-comedy as can possibly be achieved. The song contest offers the opportunity for laughter and tension while the real human tragedy of Stuart’s pathetic, doomed existence is skilfully intertwined with the death of the Ukrainian writer.
Paul Vale, The Stage
A light-entertainment fist half with lots of singing for Lenny and Eurovision jokes… In the 2nd half, things get more serious and more interesting.
Admirable… Engrossing…
Kieron Quirke, Time Out