The Ladykillers

Having had the pleasure of visiting The Horsehay Amateur Dramatic Society in November last year and thoroughly enjoying a riveting evening of suspense with the Agatha Christie classic, ‘A Murder Is Announced’, I was very much looking forward to making a return visit to the Horsehay Village Hall for the local company’s latest production of the classic comedy ‘The Ladykillers’ - and I certainly wasn’t disappointed!

A stage adaptation of the classic 1955 Ealing Comedy film which starred such legendary actors as Alex Guinness, Cecil Parker and Peter Sellers, Graham Linehan’s play premiered at the Liverpool Playhouse in November 2011 before transferring to the Gielgud Theatre in London later that year. After a twelve-month successful run, it embarked on a national tour of the UK before returning to the Questors Theatre in Ealing for another season, ironically only 500 metres from the famous studios where the original film was made.

The play tells the story of Mrs Louisa Wilberforce, a slightly eccentric old lady who lives in an even more eccentric old house above a railway tunnel portal in Kings Cross, London, where her peace is constantly shattered by the rumble of express trains hurtling through and where it seems the only way to get the tap water flowing in the house is to hammer violently on the pipes!

Her vivid imagination and suspicions about local people are frequent and in her latest discussions with the police, she has caused a bit of a stir by wrongly accusing the local newsagent of being a high-ranking German Nazi Officer. Having now unwittingly rented out her spare room to a group of armed robbers posing as a musical ensemble, little does she suspect that her new guests are spending their time planning a major train robbery in which she eventually becomes innocently embroiled. Not realising that our dear old lady is quite as potty as she might appear, especially after she eventually twigs what’s really going on, the gang become nervous and decide that their only option is to get rid of her. But who’s going to do the dirty deed? And that is where the shenanigans really begin as the gang’s plans fail in a series of comical unsuccessful attempts, all of which have disastrous results!

As the house lights dimmed, the stage curtains opened to allow us our first view of yet another magnificent Horsehay set. In perfect fifties vogue, the right-hand side of the stage had been turned into a quintessential drawing room, suitably furnished and with a fireplace and door on the right-hand wall and the main entrance door to the house at the back. In the centre of the stage there was a short staircase leading up to a small rickety landing where there was another door which opened onto a second staircase leading down into a sparsely furnished room with a large bay window on the left-hand wall and another door at the back. This room would become the robber’s ‘den’ from where their fake music was broadcast and in where much of their planning for the train robbery took place. In a touch of design brilliance, the large bay window actually turned into the railway tunnel entrance at one stage later in the piece.

As Mrs Wilberforce, Jane Parkyn gave a wonderfully believable performance as the demure, slightly batty and lonely old widow with only the treasured memories of her late sea captain husband and her beloved parrot, General Gordon, for company. Seldom off the stage throughout the whole play, her whole demeanour was exceptionally well portrayed as she moved gingerly about the house especially after the arrival of her bogus guests, when her walk and stance as she busy-bodied up and down the stairs with a constant supply of tea and biscuits for them was hilarious. Delightfully dotty but still very wise and not in the slightest bit naive, her actions and expressions became even more skilful as she eventually worked out what her beloved home was being used for and while still purposely remaining courteous and polite, with great ingenuity and fortitude, she quickly put her own plans into action to foil every step of the gang’s misdemeanours. A truly brilliant performance!

In the role of Professor Marcus, the obviously well-educated mastermind of the gang, Callum Hancock at first appeared deliberately a little sinister as he arrived at the front door but very quickly established a very convincing more mellow and commanding stage presence as the perfect gentleman, greatly enhanced by his politeness, good looks and height and complete with his never-ending scarf! Every bit the lovable rogue, his endeavours to manipulate Mrs Wilberforce with his plans were hilarious and made even more comical by the idiosyncrasies and undisciplined rowdiness and antics of his fellow gang members as they struggled to disguise their true identities which were certainly not musicians!

As the Professor’s gang of crooked misfits arrived, they were politely introduced to Mrs Wilberforce one by one. First through the door was Major Courtney, comically played by Rob Fisher, impeccably dressed and clearly maintaining his military bearing and upper-class accent but a con-man just the same and quite obviously a little bit nervous and twitchy about the plans ahead. Later in the play, and much to our amusement, we would also see the Major’s penchant for lady’s clothing as he danced around with a yellow dress from Mrs Wilberforce’s earlier years.

Next to arrive was Harry Robinson played by Conor McGuigan who gave a bright and cheerful performance as a typical London ‘spiv’, slightly arrogant but still a very likeable crook. He hadn’t been in the house for more than a few minutes before he slipped a candlestick up his sleeve and then spotted what at first he thought might be a Constable painting on the wall as the next potential item to pilfer. A bit of a pill popper as well, mainly to help control his unfortunate but well-acted nervous OCD symptoms which saw his need to continually clean and dust everything in sight.

Clearly not the brightest of the bunch, the ex-boxer ‘One-Round’ was skilfully portrayed in a fine performance by Richard Astle as the phoney cello player. A little bit dim but very warm hearted and easy going just the same, he was always a little bit slow to comprehend and keep up with the plans for the robbery and was forever coming out with the wrong things and putting his foot in it which added even more fun to his cleverly played role.

And finally, Kieran Palin as the menacing and cold-hearted Romanian, Louis Harvey was suspicious of everything and everyone and made no secret of his extreme dislike for old ladies. Always with his knife in hand, his whole demeanour was genuinely frightening with superb facial expressions in another fine performance.

The friendly and helpful Constable MacDonald, played by Andy Reed, showed a kind and genuine sympathy to Mrs Wilberforce’s bizarre accusations whilst keeping her on the right side of the law after inheriting all the ‘loot’.

Having taken the stage by storm to hear the ‘concert’ being outrageously performed by our gang of misfits, Shirley Gladwin as Mrs Jane Tromleyton and Mrs Wilberforce’s other guests, Amanda Bowater, Leigh Dudbridge, Cath Fisher and Lisa Kane all added a welcome light-hearted touch to the more sinister proceedings. And not forgetting dear old General Gordon who we couldn’t actually see but most certainly hear with the very realistic parrot imitation by Cath Fisher.

The costumes were all perfectly in vogue for the nineteen fifties with appropriate styles and plenty of colour, particularly with the arrival of Mrs Wilberforce’s troop of elderly lady friends in the second act, all dressed in their Sunday best.

I loved the appropriately strings-themed music which was used to introduce each act before the house tabs opened, and the sound effects, especially those of the trains entering and leaving the tunnel underneath the house were masterful, cleverly synchronised with the pictures and ornaments shaking to greatly enhance the overall atmosphere. The lighting too was perfectly adequate and well operated.

But, as always, my final comments must go to Directors Robin Cooper and Alexander John Edwards, who had carefully crafted the relationships between Mrs Wilberforce and the gang members and turned every fine detail of Graham Linehan’s adaptation of the original 1955 film into such a wonderfully comical production which kept us fully entertained from the very start to the real ‘twist in the tale' at the end which took everybody by surprise. Many congratulations also to the set building team of Rob Fisher, Andy Reed, Les Walder and Karen Brittle and other members of the HADS Company and to Lisa Kane for the production soundscape which kept us rattling all evening.

Thank you so much for inviting me to your latest production and for your warm welcome. I greatly look forward to making the relatively short journey from Stone to Horsehay to see you all again for ‘Head Over Heels’ in June.

Chris C Bell, Acting Regional Representative - NODA West Midlands District 2

In my efforts to visit as many societies as possible across the West Midlands, it is not always feasible to attend every production to which I am invited. Unfortunately, this meant I was unable to see ‘A Murder is Announced’. However, having been aware of Chris’s comments, I was pleased to present the award at the recent NODA event.

Having seen ‘The Ladykillers’ on several occasions, I have encountered a variety of set designs, but none have quite matched the ingenuity of this production. The quirkiness of the design was highly commendable, made even more impressive by the clever staging—most notably the rotating window that revealed the ledge, while another part of the set was concealing the railway tunnel.

Chris has already highlighted the strength of the cast, and I can only echo those sentiments. Each performer was entirely convincing in their role, demonstrating strong characterisation, stage presence, and effective interaction with fellow cast members. The pacing was well judged, vocal projection was clear, and technical elements were of a high standard.

I would also like to record my congratulations to the entire team and very much look forward to future productions by Horsehay Amateur Dramatic Society.

Andy Brown, Regional Councillor NODA - West Midlands

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