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Tom Dick and Harry

Author: Catherine Dixey

Information

Date
25th August 2023
Society
Dovercourt Theatre Group
Venue
The Studio Theatre, Dovercourt
Type of Production
Farce
Director
Simon Reader
Assistant Director
Abi Potter

I have not been to the Studio Theatre in Dovercourt before and found  it to be a small intimate theatre where you feel very much part of the production.  A typical farce by Ray and Michael Cooney, the acting space, albeit very small was well designed; set out as a living room with five entrances for the cast to be continually coming and going in this hilarious comedy.

We meet the Kerwood family Tom and his wife Linda, along with Tom’s two brothers Dick and Harry. Tom and Linda are wanting to adopt a baby and are eager to impress the women from the agency. Not wanting to give too much away, unsurprisingly things do not go well.  This incredibly complex plot involves smuggled  brandy and cigarettes, illegal immigrants  and a dead body. Confused, you will be!!  Subplot after incredible subplot present themselves and soon make us lose track of the original storyline in a frantic and mind boggling series of events.

All the characters were well cast. The three brothers played by Rob Porter (Tom), Chris Holman (Dick) and Richard Kemp-Luck (Harry) demonstrated the different  personalities of each character brilliantly. Rob as the calming influence, Chris as the ‘Jack The Lad’, and Richard as the dreamer and schemer.  Tom being aided and abetted by his long suffering wife Linda (Katherine Johnson), who gave a very convincing performance.   The Croatian illegal immigrants, were Katerina  (Gemma Holman-Quinn)  and Andreas (Greg McDowell). He was often drunk, and surprised us with his great clarinet playing.  They were both unable to speak  any English and  coped amazing well with the semi parrot fashion language the script called for  while still demonstrating in actions and attitudes what they were actually trying to say. Good supporting roles were played by Andrew Dace as Constable Downs, Liz McLeod as Mrs Potter and Jordan Brown as Boris completed this talented cast.

The set was designed in-house and worked well along with good lighting and sound. Costumes all looked good, (though I was fascinated by Harry’s wig!)  with no mishaps as characters were pushed backwards through windows and stuffed under the sofa. Amazingly the cast coped with all the designed confusion with plenty of energy. Quite an achievement! Under Simon’s direction the fast pace, so essential in a farce of this type,  was well maintained throughout,  but with some good timing as the puns and jokes kept coming thick and fast. All credit to this very capable and experienced cast. The excellent teamwork necessary to carry off this type of production was very clearly evident throughout the cast.

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