Dying to Meet You

“Laughter is the best medicine” is a well known saying. Well, I take a few pills these days, but I have to admit that I overdosed on this production. This is a very cleverly written farce (circa 1997) and I had a very pleasant evening in the company of these four eclectic couples.

Richard and Barbara are the householders who have now an empty house, their two children having left home.  Richard (Stephen Knopf) and Barbara (Carolyn Irving) ably enacted the husband and wife team as did their neighbours, Tom (Simon Ancell) and Beryl (Carol Clark).

It was Tom who put the idea of lodgers for their now spare rooms to help with cash flow and so we have the appearance of two young folk, both desperate for accommodation. Clive (Leo Baker) was the first to arrive. The fact that he was an undertaker was to be hush-hush. Gina (Kim Logan) is the next applicant for the room. She was an Italian girl, in the U.K. to improve her English.  These two became good friends and enacted the parts very well. Much of the humour came from the fact that Clive’s job in the funeral trade was misunderstood by the others particularly through his being introduced as a removal man or acting director.  Beryl, being a “resting” actor took great advantage of the latter.

The final two people who come to the house are Miss Simmins (Doe Constable) and Luciano (Joe Finch). Miss Simmins is tax inspector and Luciano is Gina’s uncle. A lot more well acted laughs here as she is accidentally identified as a police inspector and he is assumed with Mafia connections especially with the added luggage of a violin case. A very complicated plot with many twists and turns but this performance was easy to understand and follow. The story concluded with the inspector and Luciano also being a couple. That was a unexpected scenario that I had not envisaged happening.

The set was a well designed bright living room with just two entrances/exits. Lighting and sound was expedited efficiently. The hall itself is quite small as this company lost their normal venue a few months ago. In the period between the last show I saw there, they have been very busy  turning it into a “little theatre”. Congratulations to all involved with this production and the team continuing to revamp their rehearsal/storage rooms to a venue for an audience in order to keep this talented group entertaining the public for many more years.  

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.