The Lady Killers

Graham Linehan's adaptation of the classic1955 Ealing film is now a superb comedy play.  The plot is near-perfect for stage farce; a gang of bank robbers hide out in King's Cross by disguising themselves as an amateur string quintet. The catch is not just their total inability as musicians, but their fatal undermining of their tea-making septuagenarian landlady, Mrs Wilberforce.  The basic idea of criminal ‘masterminds’ coming a cropper at the hands of a sweet, innocent and bullet-proof old lady is terrific and it’s this context which translates this piece beautifully onto the stage.

It is always difficult adapting something from screen to Theatre, having to work within the confines of a single space, and more difficult when, as in this case, the venue has a relatively small stage.  The set requirements of a hallway, sitting room, a staircase, a cupboard under the stairs (to accommodate five people), a ‘guest’ room with practical window and door to a bathroom, and it has to shake every time a train goes by.  It had all been pretty solidly constructed by Graham Royston and his team and decorated with the slightly shabby décor and subsidence problems caused by the wartime bombings, of a house belonging to the “old lady”.  The set dressing was good and changes worked well.  The props too were excellent.  Must have been a nightmare sourcing the instruments. 

The lighting was well designed and needed to be (and was) cued precisely as the action moved to each area of the stage (Graham Royston again!).  The sound (Moira Stephenson) was also complicated.  There were some nice effects of trains passing; plumbing; doorbells; a parrot and, of course, the gramophone. 

The play was suitably costumed, with the “elderly” ladies depicting a slightly bygone age, and the men dressed in outfits which were appropriate to their characters. 

This is a demanding play to direct as towards the end there is action on the railway line behind the house and in a tunnel. The use of the front of the stage as a parapet worked if one knew what was supposed to be happening - the escapes through the window were handled competently although personally I felt the window would have worked more symmetrically had it been in the stage left wall, rather than at the back. The action in the different areas of the stage was nicely plotted although there was masking problems in the lounge area when 7 actors jostled for space. The first Act is very funny with many farcical moments but in the second Act everything becomes much darker, although it still has its humour which was well brought out.  There were times due to seemingly hesitant delivery the pace slowed somewhat, but generally speaking dialogue flowed.

The actors in the three minor roles all gave good accounts of themselves.

David Wilson as Constable Macdonald was everyone’s idea of a 1950’s friendly beat  ‘Bobby’ listening to Mrs Wilberforce’s tales of suspicious characters and dealing with her in a good humoured way.  A good, if slightly ponderous, characterisation.

Mrs Wilberforce’s friends Mrs Tromleyton (Susy Worzencraft) and Mrs Francis (Sara  Halse) were quite as eccentric as her, all relics of a by-gone era, with lovely responses to the Professor’s ‘modern’ music. Both added bizarreness to an already surreal situation.

Barbara Oxley gave a fine performance as Mrs Wilberforce; she was every inch the slightly eccentric old lady with a tendency to righteous meddling, who is unknowingly dicing with death. 

Jonathan Bolderson, as Professor Marcus, portrayed the leader of the gang with panache. He appeared to be a well-educated, smooth talking charmer, but he had extremely sinister intent. An excellent performance and definitely up for “scarf handler of the year”. 

Dean Ward, as Major Courtney, a con man, delivered his lines clearly and somewhat loudly throughout which meant there was little light and shade or variation in tone. He looked very snazzy though and was amusing when revealing his secret love for cross-dressing.   

Simon Wheeler gave a great portrayal as Harry Robinson, a crook with a cleaning obsession, who needs his ‘pills’ to keep going. I enjoyed his frustration with the wonky painting. An up and coming young actor who I am sure we will see many more times.

Abi Reddy, as ex-boxer One-Round, captured the confusion, presumably a result of his boxing career, and sentimentality of the character, who had difficulty remembering he was ‘Mr Lawson’.   An actor with great comic timing.  Loved the “Is anybody back from the robbery yet?” Shouted through the letterbox.

Given that St John’s rarely has a problem with large male casts, I was somewhat mystified as to why the role of Louis was played by a woman. However, having said that Prue Harrison gave an excellent and extremely convincing performance as hard hearted Romanian killer, Louis Harvey, who has a hatred of many things, but in particular old ladies. 

Directors Martin Hunt and Claire Milner did a good job with this production.  In fact, all departments rose to the challenge of this deceptively difficult play and worked together to produce a thoroughly entertaining evening.

To quote the Professor ‘Being fooled by art is one of the primary pleasures afforded the middle classes’, maybe so - but there is no mistaking the genuine appeal of this classic parody. 

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