Three Funny Plays

Gamlingay Players production consisted of three unconnected short plays, presented in the Eco Hub, Gamlingay on what was a hot and humid night. There were two plays by Michael Frayn, “Doubles”, directed by Ian Parker and “Alarms and Leavings” directed by Hayley Parker, and one, home written and directed by one of the Players very own, Jonathan Mountfort “Funeral Plans.”

First performed in 1998, but also first performed by the Players back in 2002, Doubles was quite a clever little play, with two bickering couples occupying two adjoining, back-to-back, identically laid out hotel rooms and owing to thin walls end up eavesdropping on each other to much embarrassment.

The set was entirely to blacks with two back-to-back double beds, although somewhat cleverly shortened to fit the stage, with each room having diametrically opposed identical wardrobes, dressing tables and off-stage bathrooms and a trouser press. Each had a white painted door out to the imaginary external corridor that ran between the two rooms, along which each couple initially arrives. Excellent set managed by Clive Pattle with Jenny and Phil Vass as stage crew.

Miles, played by Graham Virgo was the compulsive obsessive, who couldn’t get past that they had a trouser press and the bathroom was in a different place from where it had been in the hotel they had stayed in the previous night, much to the exasperation of his other half, Melanie, played by Bryony Mountfort, whereas Laurence played by Craig Smoothy, who actually did use the trouser press, was almost the opposite of Miles whilst Lynn, played by Rebecca Keeves was more the uptight one of the two of them. After the embarrassment of mistaking the noises coming from the other room, and a highly amusing aborted attempt at sex, both couples decide to leave the following morning without breakfast in order to avoid seeing the other, but every time they try to escape they encountered the other couple in the corridor doing exactly the same thing, and have to retreat seemingly leaving them stranded in their rooms ‘for ever!’ Excellent interaction between the couples who gelled very well in this quiet chuckle of a comedy.

Funeral Plan written and directed by Jonathan Mountfort, is a totally off the wall black comedy about a woman, Mum, played by Melanie Drummer, in her early nineties who, although apparently in perfectly good health is constantly preparing for her own death, that might occur at any second, a situation her family: son Steve, played by Graham Virgo, his wife Ange played by Amy Lovat and daughter Milly played by Maddy Parker have become somewhat blasé about;  a series of visitors come and go as she organises her funeral arrangements, from the local vicar (Jim Burke), Doctor (Samatha Falder), Policeman (Chris Martin) and Gravedigger (Fred Hammett). As it turns out she has a drawer full of death certificates, an implausible seventeen of them!

The main prop in this tale is a blue urn into which her ashes are supposed to reside once she has gone, which Steve plans on scattering by her gravestone.  When eventually she supposedly falls ill the doctor returns from her ‘offstage’ bedroom and certifies that life is extinct, but when back downstairs and writing out the death certificate Mum reappears, very much alive and kicking and volunteers to help fill it out. The freaked out Doctor runs out screaming!

The set which had been a simple drawing room, consisting of a sofa, chair, hatstand, side tables and a plant is then changed to a bare stage to blacks with just a raised grave with headstone centre stage where we meet the grave digger amusingly flicking ash into the urn and the dog walker with the dog bringing all the aah’s from the audience quite literally stealing the show.  We then learnt every attempt to cremate Mum had failed as the oven had refused to ignite. Whilst Steve, unaware of the problem puts what he thinks are Mums ashes on the grave from the urn as soon as he leaves up sits mum in the grave and still very much alive!  Spooky!!

A very amusing idea that obviously requires a lot of suspension of disbelief of both the plot, and that Melannie Drummer looked anything like ninety, but all good fun with a totally off the wall script. Highly amusing! All the visiting characters brought something to the party from Steve (Graham Virgo) total acceptance of this bizarre scenario, to a totally bemused vicar (Jim Burke) to a somewhat confused Policeman (Chris Martin) and a dour, but laid back Gravedigger (Fred Hammett), dogwalker (Hannah Ginnetta) and the star of the show dog, Muffy (Real name Vardy) – Aaah!!  

From my wife’s personal perspective she was so pleased and proud to see Maddy Parker up on stage giving a polished and confident performance – well done Maddy – we hope to see you again in future shows.

The third play, directed by Hayley Parker, Alarms and Leavings was another Michael Frayn short story about technology that goes wrong – and we have all been there – and heavily relied on the tech crew of the evening, sound by Dave Masterson and lights by Andrew Peters, being spot on with their cues, which indeed they were, as various fire, car and burglar alarms randomly went off on their own. The two male protagonists John, played by Matthew Head and Nicholas, played by Craig Smoothy run around like headless chickens trying to stop the cacophony of noise. Meanwhile, as a running gag, John is singularly failing to open a bottle of wine with what looks like the most complicated corkscrew / bottle opener in the world! His other half Jocasta, played by Rebecca Keeves is getting more and more frustrated that he can’t even follow the instructions she has dug out of a drawer.

The set was a dinning room with table and four chairs, upon which the two men stand to fit the faulty alarm on the ceiling.

The Leavings of the title comes in the second half of the play, when the visiting couple, I think it was Nicholas (Craig Smoothy) and Nancy (Samantha Falder), but by the end I wasn’t entirely sure, tried to leave the dinner party. Every time one or other went to leave the other partner would frustratingly become involved in a conversation with one of the other two. Highly amusing, but by the end I think we were all ready for the final exit! 

All good fun entertainment with themes and story angles that were certainly left field and not normally subjects tackled on the stage, but they certainly kept us all amused for the evening. As I said earlier more a quiet chuckle rather than a loud belly laugh. So well done to writer Jonathan Mountfort for Funeral Plan and the three Directors, Ian Parker, Jonathan Mountfort and Hayley Parker, their casts and crew, we all left with smiles on our faces, but wishing the Eco hub had proper air con!

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