See How They Run

Roger Bingham must be congratulated on directing this hilarious production. For any farce to run smoothly requires a talented cast to handle challenging and energetic roles, fast and witty dialogue, accurate timing, and keeping track of a complicated plot. Many hours of rehearsals have delivered a first-class production of “See How They Run” with so many hilarious scenes.

Set in the vicarage, the Rev. Lionel Toop and his ex-actress wife, Penelope, are expecting a visit from Penelope’s uncle, the Bishop of Lax, and the Rev. Arthur Humphrey, neither of whom have ever met her husband.

All seems well until Miss Skillon (Jeanette Roberts), the parish spinster and very strict on moral attitudes, challenges the vicar and his wife about decorating the altar for the Harvest Festival. After witnessing what she thinks is Penelope attacking Lionel, she knocks back a bottle of cooking sherry to help her recover. She ends up very drunk and is pushed in and out of a cupboard while joined by countless other characters.  Jeanette was perfect in this role and

There were some very funny scenes.

Tommy Jones was excellent as Rev. Lionel Toop. After being hit on the head by an escaped German POW who goes on to steal his clothes, Lionel spends most of his time running around in his underwear and in and out of the cupboard. Penelope Toop, played with perfection by Margaret Harrison, tries to keep ahead of what is happening. Lilli Wright was ideal as Ida the Maid and every time she entered the room there was always a different situation. Especially when she meets Corp. Clive Winton, Penelope’s ex-acting friend who is determined to act out a scene from” Private Lives”. Daniel Roberts was so funny and excelled in this role. To hide his identity, Clive wears a suit belonging to Lionel and calls himself Humphrey.

Roger Bingham not only directed this wonderful production but was also a very impressive Bishop of Lax. Totally unaware of what was happening, he ended up running around in his

Pyjamas and covered in mud after a trip around the garden. The arrival of the real Rev. Arthur Humphrey (John Pashley) adds even more confusion and misunderstanding. John had some of the wittiest lines in the play – another great performance. We now had five gentlemen dressed as men of the cloth, one of whom was the escaped German POW, “The Intruder” (Phil Gascoyne), complete with a fantastic German/English accent and very funny when also pretending to be Penelope’s husband.

Finally, just to make things more confusing Sergeant Towers arrives to arrest the prisoner, but which one is he? Another character with some very witty one-liners, John Fereday delivered these perfectly.

As the play progresses further misunderstandings happen, however, the final scenes were amazing when Clive and Penelope re-enacted the scene from “Private Lives”. They delivered their lines at the same time with incredible speed, and all was well in the end.

The set was excellent and worked extremely well, especially with the numerous entrances and exits through doors, in and out of the cupboards and the chase scenes.

Again, many congratulations to the director, cast, production, technical and wardrobe teams who all worked very well together to make this a most excellent, enjoyable and funny production.

Thank you for the invite and an evening full of laughter enjoyed by myself and the audience.

 

 

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