Spiking guns of critics

MICHAEL BARRYMORE has only vague memories of Eccles, Minnie Bannister and Count Jim Moriarty, three of the many characters brought to life by Spike Milligan in the cult radio series The Goon Show. But then the 56-year-old was just a child when the show was broadcast in the 1950s.

"I suppose I knew as much about Spike Milligan as anybody else really," says Barrymore, admitting, "I was more influenced by Monty Python, Spike was slightly out of my time as a kid, although I do have early memories of listening to The Goons on the radio. I have more memories of his TV show and although I didn't get into all of it I did like his weird sketches."

The lanky entertainer is sitting in the offices of West End producer Bill Kenwright, and talk has turned to Spike Milligan for one very simple reason – the one-time darling of Saturday night light entertainment is playing the legendary funnyman in Surviving Spike, a play by Richard Harris, based on Norma Farnes' best-selling book Spike: An Intimate Memoir.

Farnes, of course, was Milligan's manager and confident for the last 33 years of his life, so who better to reveal the untold story of his extraordinary life and of the turbulent relationship they shared.

Terence Alan Patrick Seán Milligan was born on April 16, 1918. He died on February 27, 2002. During the years in between Spike, as he liked to be known, reinvented the face of British comedy.

A comedian, writer, musician, poet and play-wright, he influenced a generation but behind the laughter was a tortured soul, for whom depression hovered like a dark rain cloud never far from the horizon.

"He was a man of great extremes," reflects Barry-more. "He was obviously what today would be considered bipolar, but that condition hadn't been diagnosed then.

"The play charts how, despite his lows there was this amazing relationship, and how Norma Farnes actually dealt with this man when nobody else could.

"One minute he would be up, really high, the next he would completely shut down and lock himself in his office. He'd stay there for three or four days at a time, sometimes weeks, and not come out. Then when he did he behave as if nothing had happened."

Milligan's dark moods could be triggered by the slightest thing and Barrymore admits that there are a number of similarities between Milligan's life and his own.

"There is an undercurrent of realism there that makes me go, 'I wonder why they cast me?'' he says wryly. "There is no doubt that I can relate to where he is at, however."

Barrymore's own troubles have been well-documented over the last seven years, and he accepts that Surviving Spike is the biggest challenge he has faced since reinventing himself as an actor after an award-winning career spanning more than 20 years as a light entertainer.

Recalling the moment the project was first mooted he explains, "I was at dinner with Bill Kenwright and some friends, mucking about doing my Stanley Unwin act and improvising a story about all the people around the table.

"Someone said to Bill, 'There's a Spike'. I didn't know what he was talking about but Bill said, 'I've got a script, have a look at it.'

"I did. My first reaction was it's a lot of words and you are playing somebody that people know – it's not a role you can characterise. And it's a real story. I thought, 'Well, you said you wanted to be an actor, go for it'." Having taken time out a couple of years ago to study method acting in New York, Barrymore concedes that he thought he was "a bit of a strange choice look-wise" for the role, before being won over by the "brilliant script".

"It's a very funny play, very sad – tragic in places. Mid-way through I break the fourth wall to do his stand up, so you have the mix of the two. But there are some points when you look at the words and think why did Norma put up with him? He really would go too far with her sometimes."

To immerse himself in the character, Barrymore visited the offices that Milligan and Farnes shared with Eric Sykes, who still works there.

"That helped. Spike had first choice of office. It's a big tall building, Norma is on the ground floor on the left, Eric is at the front, but Spike chose a small room at the back, with a window through which he could feed the birds. There was also a bed in there when he locked himself away," he recalls.

In the play, which had a limited pre-Edinburgh run in Windsor earlier this year, Jill Halfpenny, best known as Kate in EastEnders, plays Milligan's formidable, but long-suffering manager.

"Jill is brilliant as Norma and she has given me a good run for my money," praises Barrymore. "She comes at me all the time and when I am up there I firmly believe that I am in that office."

Playing any character the public are familiar with brings with it inherent risks for an actor, and Barrymore confesses that having accepted the role he dared not think "about how heavy part it is."

"At first I thought, 'Should I work on his voice?' But what is his voice – Spike had so many voices. Then I thought, if I do an impression of him it is never going to be bang on and I won't be able to keep it up for any length of time. Also you can't act the emotion when you are focusing on capturing the voice."

Instead he works on bring the script to life, "I do get very into it," Barrymore assures. "It's quite draining at times, especially when he starts to beat himself up because Milligan was harder on himself than anyone else."

"I'm so proud of it. We've adapted it slightly for Edinburgh, but after Windsor I believe I now have a better understanding of Spike and even his body language – he doesn't move his arms around a lot.

• Surviving Spike, The Music Hall, Assembly @ George Street, until August 25 (not 11), 4.15pm, £10-£20, 0131-623 3030