Move Over Mrs Markham

‘Move over Mrs Markham’ written by Ray Cooney and John Chapman. The story revolves around a married couple Phillip and Joanna Markham and their newly refurbished London flat. This flat becomes the pivotal point of the story when long standing friends want to use the flat one evening, to meet up with their respective partners for affaires. What was an innocent planned night out, sets off a chain reaction resulting in lies, mistaken identities and a whole heap of passion. We also became accustomed to a vast amount of bottom pinching, also known as ‘goosing’ which became increasingly funny.

This was an extremely clever script which came with the extremely hilarious lines, these lines were delivered impeccably and each character played their part in making the most of them. Effort had obviously gone into learning all of the script. This was appreciated by the audience with literally a- laugh- a- minute. The pace that is needed to deliver a ‘farce’ well was most definitely present, ensuring that the rhythm was never lost and that lines where delivered effortlessly throughout. The cast also worked well together, making sure that all of the relationships where believable.

The cleverly designed set was well build, this managed to depict all the different rooms of this expansive flat and also the office below. The discipline of the actors should also be commended going through the correct doors when required. The amount of stage entrances and exits was vast a lot more then a normal production. Despite this the cast managed to keep the pace throughout which was nice to see. Also care needs to be taken when there is an imaginary wall and it needs to be ensured that actors are disciplined and stay well within the limits of the room or the illusion is broken. This aspect was well managed within this production.  

Sound effects were also well timed and sounded authentic. The sound cues were always prompt and the overall sound quality was of a good standard, as we have come to expect from this society. The show was also performed with a bundle of energy, of which is admirable due to this being the last show of the run. The costumes were also apt for each character, helping to build their on stage perceived personalities.

Overall this was a great production of a hugely comical show. It was a good audience pleaser and everyone left with a smile on their face. I would like to once again thank the society for their kind invitation to this production and look forward to their musical ‘Mack and Mabel’ next year.

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