The Ladykillers

The play “The Ladykillers” adapted from the 1955 Ealing comedy film of the same name  was first performed in 2011 and written by Graham Linehan and is set in 1950’s King’s Cross London. A gang of criminals which are led by a Professor Marcus have a plan to rob a train at Kings Cross station; Marcus rents a room in a nearby house while he perfects his plans. The house belongs to a widow called Mrs Wilberforce who lives alone apart from her deformed parrot. As cover for their criminal activities, the gang pretend to be musicians who wish to use Mrs Wilberforce's spare room for rehearsals. However the robbery does not go quite according to plan.
This was another very fine production from Chorley Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society (CADOS) directed by Sean Duxbury who again had some very fine actors in his cast,  which included Mrs Louisa Wilberforce( Susan Hilton) , Professor Marcus ( David Reid) Major Courtney ( David Walker) Harry Robinson ( Steven Catterall) One-round ( Andy Burke) Louis Harvey (Ashley Hambrook) Constable Macdonald ( Barry Callander) and Mrs Jane Tromleyton ( Moyra Welch) This play  introduces us to a number of very different enjoyable characters and happily  in this production all the actors managed to hit the mark with their interpretations suiting their roles very well  and performing together as a team with no weak links, also their comic timing and facial expressions were very good. Diction was excellent from all on stage, dialogue was clear and flowed effortlessly at just the right pace  as a result the action could be followed easily, meaning the audience’s attention was retained throughout the play Getting all these elements spot on is crucial to the success of this play a task the cast achieved extremely effectively.
 The very effective and unusual set was more than up to CADOS’s usual Standard making efficient use of the stage and along with furnishings; props and costumes which suited the era and roles well produced a splendid working environment for the actors, well done to the set builders, backstage crew including sound and lighting. The result was a very fine comedy production that provided a most enjoyable entertaining evening for the audience to experience.
Well done and congratulations to Director Sean Duxbury and to all involved in this excellent production and thank you for inviting me I had an extremely enjoyable evening.
 

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