Key for Two

‘Key for Two’ is probably the best farce from one Britain’s best team of farce playwrights, John Chapman and Dave Freeman. This hilarious entertainment is showing at the Marloo Theatre, 20 Marloo Road, Greenmount. The performances run until Saturday 23^rd February, the shows commence at 8.00 pm, and end at 10.15 pm.

The scene is a sitting room and bedroom in a luxurious Regency flat in the wealthy area of Brighton on the south coast of England.

         Smart businessman, Gordon (Joe Isaia) is getting dressed in the bedroom. He has an important meeting to attend and leaves some money for the numerous bills that he has been handed. However, as his ‘little bit on the side’, gorgeous blonde Harriet (Siobhán Vincent) dressed only in her underwear, is kissing him goodbye he decides to strip off again and drag her back to bed.

         In the next scene, it is rough northerner, Alec (Keith Scrivens) who is handed the same bills for payment. Harriet is double dipping. Both men are married but don’t know of each other, as they call on different days, when mother isn’t there.

         One day out of the blue, Harriet’s best friend from school, Anne (Krysia Wiechecki – sexy and hilarious) arrives from New Zealand. She has left her veterinary husband, Ramsay (Rodney van Groningen) and is desperately in need of love. On learning how Harriet has made her wealth, Anne becomes complicit, and then two women arrive wrecking their world. The first is a smartly dressed, officious woman (Michele Acott) the other, a rough fishwife (Kerry Goode) - can there be any hope for the girls?

When the curtains rise, occasionally the audience applaud the set, with this play there were audible gasps at the quality. Very well designed (George Boyd), beautifully decorated (Gail Palmer, Genevieve Hartney) and solid construction with four doors, which like the play’s characters Gordon and Alec, were perfectly hung. The furnishing and fittings were elegant and of quality, thanks to props queen Rosemary Mowbray and all controlled by stage manager David Seman. The teching by Michael Hart and David Bain is the icing on the cake.

A good farce relies on split second timing of entrances and exits, or complex lies making the characters’ lives intricate and multifarious. The script was very tricky but the cast were word perfect, and had every nuance of the personalities perfectly. Tiny changes of expression and movement showed the brilliant guidance of the director (Andrew Warwick) and his first time assistant (Alex Sutton).

The whole cast were magnificent, with perfect timing, some were on stage for almost the whole play. Rodney had to play an alcoholic husband for about 40 minutes, and often within five minutes of a drunken performance commencing, one wants to leave the theatre. Here, his whole body was affected by the alcohol, a special performance. In saying this, I don’t want to detract from the brilliant all-round cast as they stammered, limped around, dropped their clothes all with total conviction.

A very funny play with every scrap of humour squeezed out of the lines with dedicated skill.