Review by Paul Towers, 13/4/26
Sailor Beware! By Falkland Cary & Philip
King
Directed by Russell Hughes
Produced by Leicester Drama Society
At The Little Theatre til Saturday 18th
April 2026
Sailor Beware! Was written in 1954 and first
performed in Worthing. It starred Peggy Mount in her first stand out role. She
stayed with the play when it transferred to London’s West End and the role of
Emma Hornett became the template for her battle axe stage persona.
The Hornett household is dominated by Emma
(Rachel Draper), the tyrannical wife of stoical Henry (Freddie Dobrijevic),
sister-in-law of Edie (Michelle Louise Scott), and mother of Shirley (Maddox
McNicholl). Able Seaman Albert Tufnell (Thomas Bates) is in love with Shirley,
but he views the prospect of marrying into her family with concern. He is an
orphan and has never known home life. Albert has arrived for the wedding with
his best mate from the Navy, Carnoustie Bligh (Joey Perez-Jones).
It doesn’t take long for Albert to realise it
is time Mrs Hornett was shocked into recognising how badly she behaves to other
people. So he jilts Shirley on their wedding morning which sets off a chain of
events that lead family, neighbours Mrs Lack (Alison Kisby), Daphne Pink
(Natalie Tebbutt) and even the vicar (Andrew Webster) to tell Emma what they
think of her, good and bad. She is duly chastened and all ends happily.
On a set designed by Anna Field, the preparations
for the wedding are in full swing. Emma Hornett, the dominating matriarch of
the family, is micro-managing every thing and everybody. Into this chaos comes
the groom-to-be, Albert, and Carnoustie, fresh from the sea. Edie, Henry’s
sister and Emma’s live-in maid, is still having flashbacks to her jilting at
the alter and regularly has a case of the wailing vapours. Mrs Lack takes great
joy in catastrophising every little thing, which only winds Emma up even more. There
is much slamming of doors as Henry wisely disappears from the uproar to deal with
his pregnant ferret.
Sailor Beware! was a very successful West End
play in the 50’s running for more than 1200 performances. Since then it has
been a staple of amateur theatre companies nationwide and was revived in 1991
with, unsurprisingly, cast members of Last Of The Summer Wine. With lashings of
humour and heart Sailor Beware! runs at The Little until Saturday 18th
April.
Pics: Jonathan Pryke
https://thelittletheatre.co.uk/
https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/
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