Charley's Aunt

There is a reason why Charley’s Aunt is regarded as an evergreen classic.  It is well structured and cleverly written, packed with sufficient incident that its three acts pass by swiftly with very little in the way of padding or irrelevant subplot.  In the hands of the Norbury players, it makes a pleasant and diverting way to spend a Spring evening. 

Charley’s Aunt follows the misadventures of two likely lads – Jack Chesney and Charles (or Charley) Wykeham, as they seek to woo their respective sweethearts, Kitty and Amy.  But we are back in the nineteenth century, when no respectable lady can be alone in the company of a single man without a chaperone.  Enter Fancourt Babberley (‘Babbs’ to his friends), the third member of the gentleman’s triumvirate, who is persuaded to impersonate Charley’s Aunt, Donna Lucia D’Alvadorez.  Needless to say, this does not go entirely to plan, as both Jack’s father, Colonel Chesney, and Amy’s uncle, Stephen Spettigue, fall for the mysterious and (not entirely co-incidentally) rich lady.  The later arrival of the real Donna Lucia and her companion Ela Delahay – who has a link to Fancourt – complicates matters further, but needless to say all is eventually resolved happily.

The performance starts particularly strongly, with John Broad and Sam Jeffrey effortlessly embodying the roles of Jack and Charley respectively.  These were strong, confident, natural performances, providing a good foundation for the rest of the cast to work from.  Jake Jones was a forthright Fancourt Babberley, revelling in the confusion surrounding his ‘Charley’s Aunt’ incarnation.  Amongst the word-perfect supporting cast, Lois Donnelly imbued Kitty with a dry wit, and Ellie Davison’s winsome Ela caught the eye, as did Andy Brown’s comic turn as the wheezing dogsbody Brassett, a seemingly hard of hearing, toothless wonder. 

Director Keith Thompson kept the action moving along swiftly, including a few notable flourishes early on as Jack and Charley exchanged views via a rugby ball, and spun round an anxious Babbs as he sought to escape their clutches.

The staging was relatively stripped back, with little in the way of scenery and generally sparse furniture on show.  Whilst this is of course a valid approach, it didn’t really work for me, as many of the opportunities that the script offers for situational comedy were hampered by the open stage.  This was compensated for by some good character-based comedy, but I felt that the confusion and physical humour that characterise a farce remained a little dialled down.  Nevertheless, the whole cast worked hard to elicit their fair share of laughter from the audience, particularly as the ruse unravels during the third act.

Costumes were generally appropriate for the period and well selected, although the amount of jacket holding suggested that some of the cast were not entirely comfortable!  Lighting was effective and the backstage team worked well, executing a particularly efficient scene change between acts 2 and 3. 

I would like to thank the Norbury players for their warm welcome and for a fun evening of entertainment.  Fingers crossed that for their next performances a few more of the people of Droitwich and environs can be tempted to sample the dramatic pleasures that the Norbury Players have to offer!

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