The Ladykillers

The stage directions for “The Ladykillers” present amateur companies with some significant technical challenges, but while a revolve and an upper floor may be called for, the Thame Players’ imaginative and inventive set proved that such extravagances are not required.  The ambience of a small house in Kings Cross was cleverly conjured up, from the front door downstage right, through a small hallway into the living room centre stage, and up a short staircase to the “room to let” on a raised platform upstage.  The decoration and dressing were first class: the front door, with its inset stained glass panels, was appropriately run down and grubby; the plasterwork above the picture rail was stained, with the period wallpaper just starting to peel off the wall; and the dark wood fittings were entirely in keeping with the 1950s London setting.  A barometer hung on a wall, the mantelpiece supported a selection of china ornaments, an old-fashioned oil heater stood in the fireplace, and the dining table was covered by an embroidered cloth which could not have been bettered as an emblem of the times.

With the scene perfectly set, it was down to the company to reproduce something of the humour and spirit of the original film, amongst the best of the Ealing Comedies.  The genre is rather anarchic in style, as everyone had grown tired of the regulation and regimentation of wartime and the rigidity of the class system was coming under attack.  That style was reinforced by the fact that the films were made by what amounted to a repertory company, with the same team of screenwriters, directors and actors working (in different combinations) on most of the films.  And that style was evident here; the ensemble comprised a collection of stock characters, the dialogue was brittle and mannered, and the plot depended on the enduringly popular technique of covering up a lie by telling an even bigger one.

Graham Linehan’s adaptation of the screenplay for the stage was broadly respectful and affectionate, although there was a modern twist to some of the humour which felt at odds with the period setting and which didn’t really cut through with the audience.  But the characterisations were consistently amusing, with the narrative driven forward relentlessly by Professor Marcus, the criminal mastermind behind a planned robbery, a gentleman amateur and lovable rogue in the great British tradition.  He exuded charm and plausibility as he rented the spare room in Mrs Wilberforce’s house, ostensibly to rehearse with his string quartet, but in reality to plan the heist with the rest of his gang.

This was an entertaining production with a nice symmetry to it: Mrs Wilberforce’s fantastical stories in the prologue helping to explain why Constable Macdonald remains sceptical in the epilogue.  It successfully evoked the spirit and style of the original film, capturing much of what made the Ealing Comedies such an enduring and quintessentially British phenomenon.  While a determinedly theatrical experience, there was enough depth to the characterisation to keep us all interested, and enough humour to keep us all amused.  Congratulations to all concerned.

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