Habeas Corpus

Alan Bennett’s Habeas Corpus is set some time in the Seventies and follows the lives of the Wicksteed family. The story follows Dr and Muriel Wicksteed as they both seek pleasure and fun outside of their marital relationship. The farcical play is very fast paced, incredibly funny and occasionally surreal. The bumbling sex-obsessed British characters such as the virginal vicar, the flat chested spinster, the peering doctor, his frustrated wife and of course a bra salesman man all come together in this bizarre and thoroughly entertaining story.
With virtually no props and the barest of stages, the play placed a heavy burden on the actors, who rose to the occasion splendidly. With a comedy such as this, timing is the key and there was not a cue missed as trousers fell down at the appropriate – or should that be inappropriate - times and the punchlines kept coming. Rather than playing them as exaggerated comic stereotypes, the actors gave their characters depth and substance.
Debbie Forsyth’s imaginative direction captured brilliantly both the seaside postcard and Bennett’s rapier-like digs at the permissive society. She was well-served by some beautifully judged performances. Jerry Harvey gave Arthur Wicksteed, the randy GP, a veneered smooth professionalism barely concealing an irresistible lust. His object of desire, Felicity Rumpers, was deliciously played by Heather Appleton, whose nubile attractions also became the focus of Wicksteed’s hapless hypochondriac of a son, Dennis, played with gormless hilarity by Peter Buller.
The plot was complicated by Tim Wilkinson’s ‘thrusting young vicar’, Canon Throbbing, who managed to mix perfectly a superficial religiosity with a basic carnal desire. Carol Bailey was fantastic as the shy and dowdy Connie Wicksteed. She was wonderfully witty and really brought the character to life. Equally Linda Harvey was hilarious as Muriel Wicksteed. Her quest for sexual re-awakening is brilliant, especially when she corners and launches herself at the unfortunate Mr Shanks (a delightful cameo from Michael Thorne) after a serious misunderstanding. Keith Burton was  in his element as Medical Council boss Sir Percy Shorter, playing him with a good measure of pompous shiftiness.
Ruth Dodsworth was splendid as cleaner Mrs Swabb, revelling in the disastrous excesses of her supposed superiors. In the midst of the farce, Joyce Wiggins’s doughty Lady Rumpers delivers a delightfully nostalgic closing speech. Debbie Forsyth stepped in at short notice and provided an entertaining cameo as the suicidal Mr Purdue, let down by the NHS.
Congratulations to all the backstage team, who contributed to the look and feel of the play – the stage manager, Justin Einthoven and his team ; props -  Tessa Lee ; Lighting – Derek Howard and Steve Hunt ; wardrobe – Ruth Dodsworth and the cast. A special mention to the AV & Sfx team of Tom Barber and Sue Hickson – the use of projection enhanced the production with its picture postcard style images. 
The comic timing of the play was spot on and the entire cast were all individually brilliant. Their continued breaking of the play’s fourth wall really made the audience part of the action and had us laughing from start to finish. 
While on a superficial level the play was frothy and light, there was far more depth and it was the darker themes, handled superbly by the actors, which made Habeas Corpus such a memorable experience.

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