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Never such undevoted sisters
Shirley Anne Field as Leonora Fiske and Érin Geraghty as her housekeeper Ellen Creed Ladies in retirement
Wolverhampton Grand
**** AS A country house murder mystery Ladies
in Retirement seems to have just about been able to stand the test of
time. Being first created as play by Edward Percy and Reginald Denham
and then made into a film by Charles Vidor in 1940. One can imagine if the play was written today it
might be twenty minutes shorter which would help and some of the casual
references to the Catholic Church, the depiction of two slightly
challenged sisters, not to mention the casual acceptance of murder, the
harbouring of criminals and fraud may have to be tempered in the light
of political correctness. So, now retired musical actress Leonora Fiske
(Shirley Anne Field ), after a successful career, owns a house on the
river close to London. She is attended to by the young Lucy (Melissa
Clements) with Ellen Creed (Érin Geraghty ) her housekeeper whom she
also considers to be a companion and friend. Ellen’s family consist of her nephew Albert
Feather (Christopher Hogben) a likeable cockney rogue who ironically
happens to be a banker and an embezzler and her two impoverished
sisters, Louisa and Emily.(Sylvia Carson & Karen Ford ) respectively.
One day, unbeknown to Ellen, Albert calls on Leonora in search of a loan
only to witness the hiding place of her cash box in the wall. Then Ellen
invites her sisters to stay but after four months of their childish
antics Leonora demands that they leave. Not wanting them to be upset by
all of this upheaval Ellen’s solution is to dispense with her benefactor
and friend Leonora. The second act consists mainly of Albert and Lucy
exploring the possibilities of the absent missing Leonora with an eye on
to their own financial gain and future security. Overall, Ian dickens has collected an excellent
cast who all work hard to bring this often creaky thriller to life. The best and most fluent exchanges were between
Albert and Ellen as Albert becomes suspicious of his Aunt’s evil doings
and the blackmailing power shift between them. Also the frisky
relationship of Albert and Lucy goes a long way to inject some youth and
energy into the stiff collared atmosphere. The play however over does the antics of the
dotty sisters and after a while they become just plain annoying as we
wait for the plot to unravel. Although the ending is something of an
anti-climax Ladies in Retirements remains an entertaining parlour murder
mystery. To 07-06-14 Jeff Grant
03-06-14
THERE are times in the first act of this
Victorian melodrama when two of the characters are so batty the audience
start to get a little irritated. And they are not alone! Retired actress Leonora
Fiske, played by Shirley Anne Field, decides she has had enough of her
two unwanted lady guests, who have outstayed their welcome, but her plan
to see them off leads to a surprise murder. That’s when the play, by Edward Percy and
Reginald Denham, grabs the attention even though everyone knows who
dunnit and the actual deed seems to be carried out in slow motion. The cast of six women and one man are excellent
in the story which is set in the 1880s, based on a famous murder
committed in a remote country house. Leonora lives in a large house on marshes of the
Thames estuary, cared for by housekeeper Ellen Creed whose simple-minded
sisters Emily and Louisa decide they want to make a short visit
permanent, triggering the eventual tragedy. Erin Geraghty (Angels) is totally convincing as
Ellen, desperate to find a solution to the problem, and there are
excellent performances from Sylvia Carson (Louisa) and Karen Ford
(Emily). There is humour in the play, too, with
Christopher Hogben playing the on-the-run nephew of the three sisters,
taking a shine to the maid, Lucy, played by Melissa Clements, while
realising something is amiss in the marshes. The first of director Ian Dickens’ three-play
season, it runs to Saturday night 07-06-14 Paul Marston
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