Key For Two

Director Sue Brewer has to be congratulated on directing this hilarious production.To ensure that this comedy is a success all roles require very fast, witty and accurate comic timing and with an excellent cast and a well-polished performance this production hit the mark.

Money-driven Harriet solves her financial problems by getting two married men, Gordon and Alec, who she is dating, to pay for her high living costs (these men have never met). Keeping these two lovers apart is no easy task and Harriet keeps on claiming she is being visited by her highly moralistic mother who wouldn’t approve of her living with a married man. However, things start to go wrong when Harriet’s school friend Anne, who is trying to get away from her drunken husband, arrives from New Zealand and comes to stay.

 Gordon sprains his ankle and has to stay in bed and chaos follows when Alec returns unexpectedly. To add to the complications Anne’s drunken husband Richard arrives from New Zealand and declares his dying love for Harriet. Trying to keep these men from meeting starts get even more hectic.  When Gordon’s concerned wife, Magda, appears this causes more confusion and mayhem. To explain why these men keep on making appearances, with various ailments ranging from concussion, delusions and bad backs, Harriet and Anne quickly make up a story that the apartment is in fact is a nursing home.  To add to the plot, Alex’s suspicious wife, Mildred, appears. All this escalates into total and utter confusion that was mind-boggling but somehow or other it all gets sorted out in the end.  All this had the audience in fits of laughter from beginning to end.

Every member of the cast was excellent in their very demanding roles which were performed with confidence.  Copious amounts of dialogue were delivered with speed and clarity throughout the play. With most comedies and farces there are a lot of exits and entrances through doors and this  production certainly had plenty of those, all of which were  perfectly timed.

Rachael Lilley was outstanding in her very demanding role as Harriet who very rarely left the stage with her lovely facial reactions as the plot got more convoluted.

Excellent performances from Bill Wilde as Gordon giving a very good interpretation of a successful business man and John Varlow’s characterisation of large-than-life Alec, the owner of a fleet of trawlers. John retained Alec’s regional accent throughout. Karen Bedford perfectly played the zany character of Anne and her lines referring to the patients in the nursing home were just hilarious.  

David Colston was impressive as Richard, the drunken husband of Anne. The two irate wives, Magda, played by Julie Kaye, and Mildred, played by Anne-Marie Fearnley, were splendid.

This was a first-class and well-directed production and the outfits worn by the cast matched their characters perfectly.

A lot of great ideas and thought went into the design of the set, lighting and props and they all worked wonderfully well on the flat, three-sided stage.

 Again, congratulations to Sue, the cast and everyone involved in this first-class production. The applause given at the end of the play was truly earned.                                                                                                                                                            I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and like the rest of the audience was in fits of laughter. Thank you for the invite and hospitality and a most enjoyable evening.                        

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.