Cash on Delivery

The show is a full-on farce, complete with slamming doors, dead bodies, bald-faced lies, mistaken identities and men dressing as women. Eric Swan (Nik Waller) lost his job a couple years ago and, unable to find new work, was delighted when a Social Security check for Rupert Thompson, a former tenant, came in the mail. The tenant had moved away, so Eric cashed the check himself and assumed his identity, at least as far as the government was concerned.

Unfortunately, the British government is not content to just give out Social Security. When they learned Rupert Thompson had the gout, they began providing him with disability money. Soon Eric had other alter egos, too, each of them unemployed, disabled, or in some other way eligible for government assistance. His wife (Debi Lovell), of course, had no idea anything was going on.

The trouble begins when a welfare agent shows up to have Rupert Thompson and his landlord, Eric Swan, sign a form. They two men are one and the same, of course, which means Eric has to find someone to pretend to be him, since he’s already pretending to be Rupert Thompson. His slightly dim real-life tenant, Norman Bassett (Nick Glykeriou), whom the government believes to be dead (Eric told them that in an effort to stop the flow of dirty money), is wrangled into the ruse, as is Eric’s Uncle George (Tim Liggins).

At one point in the show, Uncle George is believed by other characters to be three different people – all while he’s lying unconscious, presumably dead (people in farces never take anyone’s pulse). Naturally, things begin to unravel and explode, and the lies have to keep getting more well-timed and creative.

Despite the absurdity, the situations come across as almost completely believable, thanks to a very committed cast. Waller gave a top performance as the man behind the lies and was well partnered with Lovell as Linda she was perfectly cast and helped towards a lot of the belly laughing moments, Nick as Norman Bassett was a great addition to this cast and portrayed the simple character in a really awesome way. Andrea Oliver who I saw in Calendar Girls was just as good this time in a slightly smaller role and her comedy timing was to a high standard. The rest of the cast added to the performance and helped the audience understand the script , which abounds in popping one-liners and jaw-dropping sight gags (the best one involving a “corpse” on a stretcher). A mention has to go to Jane Danes who had me roaring with laughter with her perfect facial expressions. Danes also needs applauding for allowing Waller to touch her breasts the way he did.

The set which was put together by a team of people was to a really high standard and no detail had been missed. Costumes were well thought out as was the lighting. A mention has to go to sound who did an amazing job of making sure that every time the kitchen door opened we heard the washing machine and also did a great job of making the phone ring and stop at the right time.

I enjoy myself every time I come to see a show that Theatrecraft have done and I look forward to seeing what you do in the future. This production was on the same level as Calendar Girls.

Well Done. 

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