A Lady Mislaid
Fri, 1 Mar 2013, 09:45 amGordon the Optom2 posts in thread
A Lady Mislaid
Fri, 1 Mar 2013, 09:45 am‘A Lady Mislaid’ was written by playwright and legendary BBC radio comedian, Kenneth Horne. Kenneth died 45 years ago, of a heart attack at the early age of 61 in London’s Dorchester Hotel on Valentine’s Day. He was probably one of the most admired and loved radio writers, often acting as a straight man to the risqué sketches from legends such as Kenneth Williams and Marty Feldman.
This two and a half hour comedy can be seen at the Garrick Theatre, 16 Meadow Street, Guildford until Saturday 2nd March. All shows are at 8.00 pm.
When their rich father died, the energetic but emotionally unstable, Jennifer (Lorna Mackie) and her homely, reserved sister, Esther (Carly Ranger – very good) decide to live their dream and leave the hustle and bustle of London. They move to Manor Cottage, a pleasant, but run down house in the countryside where the elderly Mrs Small (Lynda Stubbs) who has been housekeeper for many years, has been retained by them.
Within days of their moving in, a Detective Inspector Bullock (Stuart Porter) arrives with a team of policemen to search the house. It seems that the wife of the previous owner, the quiet but slightly creepy, Mr Smith (Graeme Johnson) has disappeared, so they want to dig up the back patio and garden to search for her body.
In the lounge, Esther turns on the radio only to find that an eerie radio play is being enacted (Tim Prosser). Could the police suspicions be true? She prefers to think not.
This is too much for Jennifer who decides to go away for a weekend with her boyfriend George (Bradley Towton). The weekend proves disastrous. When Mr Smith arrives at the house one evening, and a family friend, Betty (Claire Marshall) turns up next day things get even worse.
Once again, the set of this semi-Tudor style house is outstanding. Liam Kirwan’s design shows imagination and is not a simple box with three sides at 90 degrees. The construction by the designer, Natalie Watson and Evan Stickells is solid, with no flapping flats. The props (Lynda Stubbs, Rodney Palmer) all match and give an authentic 60’s feel to the room. The finishing set dressing is first class (Iris Robinson).
Lynda Stubbs, Donna Muir and Lorna Mackie’s costumes, with flannel trousers, turn-ups and dresses of the time were all well fitted. Visually the show was excellent.
Like Noel Coward there is a very dry humour to Horne’s work and this special genre needs its own, unusual handling. The delightful director, Rodney Palmer, however has gone more for the Basil Fawlty style of acting rather than the subtle genre. When the actors cooled down from their ‘hyper’ phase the play took a lift. The standard of acting was very good, good expressions and body movement, but some of the voices a little too shrill and panic filled. Some of the clever dialogue would have been better appreciated by a more normal delivery in this standard comedy.
It was a good production and Rodney’s direction has come on greatly since his last production. Well done.
‘A Lady Mislaid’ was written by playwright and legendary BBC radio comedian, Kenneth Horne. Kenneth died 45 years ago, of a heart attack at the early age of 61 in London’s Dorchester Hotel on Valentine’s Day. He was probably one of the most admired and loved radio writers, often acting as a straight man to the risqué sketches from legends such as Kenneth Williams and Marty Feldman.
This two and a half hour comedy can be seen at the Garrick Theatre, 16 Meadow Street, Guildford until Saturday 2nd March. All shows are at 8.00 pm.
When their rich father died, the energetic but emotionally unstable, Jennifer (Lorna Mackie) and her homely, reserved sister, Esther (Carly Ranger – very good) decide to live their dream and leave the hustle and bustle of London. They move to Manor Cottage, a pleasant, but run down house in the countryside where the elderly Mrs Small (Lynda Stubbs) who has been housekeeper for many years, has been retained by them.
Within days of their moving in, a Detective Inspector Bullock (Stuart Porter) arrives with a team of policemen to search the house. It seems that the wife of the previous owner, the quiet but slightly creepy, Mr Smith (Graeme Johnson) has disappeared, so they want to dig up the back patio and garden to search for her body.
In the lounge, Esther turns on the radio only to find that an eerie radio play is being enacted (Tim Prosser). Could the police suspicions be true? She prefers to think not.
This is too much for Jennifer who decides to go away for a weekend with her boyfriend George (Bradley Towton). The weekend proves disastrous. When Mr Smith arrives at the house one evening, and a family friend, Betty (Claire Marshall) turns up next day things get even worse.
Once again, the set of this semi-Tudor style house is outstanding. Liam Kirwan’s design shows imagination and is not a simple box with three sides at 90 degrees. The construction by the designer, Natalie Watson and Evan Stickells is solid, with no flapping flats. The props (Lynda Stubbs, Rodney Palmer) all match and give an authentic 60’s feel to the room. The finishing set dressing is first class (Iris Robinson).
Lynda Stubbs, Donna Muir and Lorna Mackie’s costumes, with flannel trousers, turn-ups and dresses of the time were all well fitted. Visually the show was excellent.
Like Noel Coward there is a very dry humour to Horne’s work and this special genre needs its own, unusual handling. The delightful director, Rodney Palmer, however has gone more for the Basil Fawlty style of acting rather than the subtle genre. When the actors cooled down from their ‘hyper’ phase the play took a lift. The standard of acting was very good, good expressions and body movement, but some of the voices a little too shrill and panic filled. Some of the clever dialogue would have been better appreciated by a more normal delivery in this standard comedy.
It was a good production and Rodney’s direction has come on greatly since his last production. Well done.
solid, with no flapping flats