Funny Money

‘Funny Money’ a farce by Ray Cooney

My first invited visit as your new NODA District 8a Representative to the lovely Roadwater and your equally lovely Village Hall, to see the Players latest production. Great to see that you had chosen a classic farce, one of Mr. Cooney’s finest. I was really looking forward to seeing your interpretation of this script, which is well known to me.

Thank you to your very welcoming front of house team and it was good to really feel part of the community buzz as my friend and I and the rest of the audience settled down to watch the comings and goings at 42 Elgar Avenue, home of, Jean and Henry Perkins.

What a great open set it was. Beautifully constructed to fit your stage space, complete with appropriate doors, staircase center back and large sofa. Not once during the run of the show did any piece of flattage shake or move inappropriately. Well done. A huge credit here must go to the set construction and design team. All props and set dressing items were perfect, bang on with accuracy right through from the telephone, Yellow Pages, briefcases, practical lamp and light switches to the cuckoo clock – which cleverly kept up with the time throughout - until its demise – which was also well thought out! The only thing I thought could have been added was the internal part of the doorbell perhaps mounted on the wall – but that really was genuinely all I could think of and that was really after a lot of thinking on my part! Lighting was well- balanced and all sound effects all on cue. I liked the outside noise we heard each time the front door was opened.

Costumes and make up were entirely suitable and appropriate for each character.

As the action started and the story began to build the pace was good and diction clear which is so important in helping the audience get the gist of things and keeping their attention in wanting to see what happens next. The rich seam of humour in this piece lies in the writing and the wordplay and Ray Cooney is a true master of this genre. For an actor this is a gift but taking the written word and lifting it up into three dimensions with all the nuances and changes in pace to help deliver the convoluted storyline takes a tremendous amount of skill and all the players in this production, aided by equally skillful direction did this with aplomb. Every performance was highly commendable. Characters were well presented and totally believeable. Well done to every one of you. Good direction helped to make scenes move along well. It’s so tricky when working on a small stage space to move around essential pieces of furniture and other items without making moves look false but this was not the case in this production. Moves were fluid, purposeful and made the whole production feel entirely comfortable to watch. The briefcase choreography was spot on. The ‘blanket hiding’ was hilarious. Everything gave the impression that you were a well-rehearsed team.

I have said before in reviews that I think sometimes the frenetic pace needed for certain characters to show that they are thinking on their feet as the story builds is, in fact during a farce, often helped by actors also thinking on their feet to find their lines! So, what may be thought of as a curse can in fact be a blessing, making things real for the audience (but not for your prompt though!) and this was the delightful case in your production.

As a reviewer I am always looking for points I can suggest or highlight to help improve a production and be constructive in my opinions but in this case you all made my task an incredibly easy one, as I genuinely couldn’t think of anything that would have been useful, because the production was of such a high standard. No need to criticize or suggest alternatives for things that work and work well. So, thank you!

Your audience was really appreciative and it was lovely to hear laughter abounding throughout the full hall. Overall a thoroughly enjoyable evening delivered by an excellent team with great attention to detail throughout the production. Very well done indeed. Audiences want to be entertained and that’s exactly what you achieved in spades.

Thank you for your hospitality and for the invitation.

I look forward to supporting you in the future as your NODA Rep.

Jane Burt

District 8a Representative

NODA South West

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