Rossendale Players: Great British farce 'See How They Run' is a runaway success
A triumph. Is there a stronger superlative? Perhaps there should be for the latest offering from the Rossendale Players is just that and more.
‘See How They Run’, a Great British farce from the pen of Philip King is a dizzying blend of nostalgia, wit and fun – and lots of the latter as the case may be.
This ensemble piece, featuring no less than nine Players, may be the biggest the company has put on in its history, but despite the intrinsic challenges posed in melding such a large cast and a riotuous, chaotic plot, the performance was word perfect and the result sublime.
Such is the breadth of amateur talent on display here it seems unfair to begin the plaudits on one of the Players for all played their part.
But, begin we must, and so I shine my first spotlight, or footlight, on Players debutant Ella Sanchez, who plays housemaid Ida, the glue that holds a vicar’s very unlikely frantic household together, garnering plenty of laughs along the way with her droll, deadpan delivery.
The vicar in question, the unassuming Rev. Lionel Toop is played by Will Curvis whose effete clergyman is the perfect foil to his wild, glamorous and spirited wife Penelope, played with full-hearted gusto by Holly Boland, who obviously thoroughly enjoyed the part.
The play, written and set in 1943, sees the two protagonists set sail in motion a chain of events that sees that classic comedy mechanism of mistaken identity run riot in a sleepy wartime English village. Think Dad’s Army meets Fawlty Towers, with a bit of Carry On thrown in for good measure.
Bounding onto the stage, and dare I say perhaps nearly stealing the show is Chris Dunn as the pompous Bishop of Lax. Chris positively throws himself, quite literally sometimes, into the part that makes this the most memorable comedy Bishop since Len Brennan of Father Ted.
It is the appearance, though, of goodtime solider Clive Winton that really sets the cat among the pigeons, as Matt Doyle returns to the stage after a nealry 20 year absence, to revel in the fun. It’s like he was never away.
Meanwhile, caught up in the sexy shenanigans is the unlikely and very matronly figure of Miss Skillon, who finds herself caught up in more undressing than altar dressing. Played wonderfully by Lynne Atkinson, the character of Miss Skillon gets more than she bargained for, in more ways than one.
As if love triangles and mistaken identities wasn’t enough chaos, the play also throws in an escaped German soldier, played by regular Stepehn Claxton, showing his dastardly Teutonic accent.
A third clergyman, the unsuspecting Reverend Humphrey, joins in the fun in the form of Leon Walker, making his second appearance for the Players.
The wonderful cast is completed by Tony McDonough as the straight-talking Sergeant Towers who has the unenviable of working out just what the heck is going on.
‘See How They Run’ is running at the New Millennium Theatre, Waterfoot, until November 15th. You’d be a fool to miss it.