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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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Just dying for laughs Ladykillers
The Grange Players, Grange Playhouse, Walsall
***** THE Ladykillers is a stage adaptation by
Graham Linehan of the 1955 Ealing comedy which premièred at the
Liverpool Playhouse in November 2011. Only just released for amateur performance, the
Grange Players are fortunate to have secured the rights so early for a
production which is much in demand by amateur companies. Based on the well-known and much-loved 1955 film
which starred Alec Guinness, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellars and Cecil
Parker, writer Linehan found fame as a scriptwriter for Father Ted, the
IT Crowd and Brass Eye, and his writing packs a contemporary punch
whilst paying homage to the Ealing tradition. The raw plot is anything but comic, but the
writing certainly is. A gang of thugs, posing as musicians rent a room
in a house, stage a security van robbery, then hole up in their lodgings
drawing lots as to who is to kill the old lady when she rumbles their
plot. And all the while the body count mounts - Tarrantino would
approve. The house they have chosen belongs to a
batty old widow, Mrs Wilberforce, who lives alone apart from her
deformed parrot battling a degenerative disease. An impressive and complex set, designed by Martin
Groves, is a delight, skewed and ramshackle beside the King’s Cross
mainline, and springs ingenious surprises throughout the show, providing
a platform for a string of inventive sight gags and physical theatre
tricks. Mary Whitehouse, playing Mrs Wilberforce, is the
star of the show. Some time dotty old bird, other times as sharp as a
tack. Mary offers warmth, comedy and all round entertainment in an
engaging package which carries the show, always hinting at the
possibility that she might not be quite so daft as she appears. Opposite
her, Dexter Whitehead as Professor Marcus is a worthy adversary.
Flamboyant and devious his ingenuity is continually thwarted by awkward
picture hanging and Mrs Wilberforce’s careless feet. The rest of his criminal gang might not be first
choice for a Quentin Tarrantino team. Al Barzdo’s nervy, cross dressing
Major Courtney is a wonderful vignette, as is Rod Bissett’s pill popping
Harry Robinson. Playing a buffoon is not as easy as it seems, timing is
all, but Joseph Hicklin carries it off with ease as One Round. The
team’s enforcer, Christopher Waters as Louis Harvey offers the menace
that laced the film, yet touchingly swerves killing old ladies. There are many hilarious moments, most notably
when the non -musicians find themselves having to give a musical
recital. “Being fooled by art is one of the primary pleasures afforded
to the middle classes,” declares Professor Marcus, as his quintet
perform to a gaggle of visiting ladies whose dresses suit to wildly
varying degrees! Les Wilkes , as Constable MacDonald, pleasingly
bookends the play with dry aplomb and some contemporary references to
Scotland and the Middle East to boot. Indeed in a week when the whole
concept of being British is being debated Ladykillers is a satisfying
slice of Britishness, awash with quick-fire wit and tea at all times. Special mention should be made of Rosemary
Manjunath, Director, Producer, set assistant, Costume Mistress,
properties assistant, head of Box Office and front of house hostess (and
those are just the jobs she admits to!). Her hard work , dedication and
commitment are an impressive thread throughout the whole of a tremendous
show of which she, and her cast, should be enormously proud. To 20-09-14 Gary Longden.
10-09-14 |
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