Dry Rot

Leicester's Little Theatre is home to several amateur dramatic societies in the area and this week it was the turn of Leicester Drama Society's to present their summer offering to the good folk of the shire.

Dry Rot by John Chapman is not going to 'play on your emotions or exercise your brain with deep and meaningful thoughts', as openly acknowledged by the director Penny Kimmins. What it will do is give you a good few laughs.

John Chapman was a member of Brian Rix's Whitehall Farce company and, after appearing in more than his fair share of mediocre and bad farces, decided he probably couldn't do any worse and maybe do even better. With a tenuous plot that veers wildly from Fawlty Towers to a Dick Francis novel and St Trinians implausibility this is never going to be a cerebral evening's entertainment. Set in a magnificent country hotel (great set design by Alec Davis) this is the standard collection of multiple doors, mistaken identities, shallow stereotypes and a horse! The only real surprise was the female police sergeant being played, straight, by a man.

While all the relatively small cast of 10 played their parts well the pairing of Carolos Dandolo and Ben Harris as the impossibly inept bookie and his assistant stand out. Michael Bull as Colonel Wagstaff was channeling Richard Attenborough while Tabitha Fogg's dopey maid, Beth, mooned effectively over the wet secretary John Danby (Lawrence Moreton). Peter Lakin as Flash Harry brought to mind LeClerc from 'Allo 'allo as he was bundled in and out of the secret panel hiding place.

This period farce will never be a critic's favourite but more than satisfied an enthusiastic audience.

Dry Rot is on at The Little Theatre until Saturday 19th September.

First published in Western Gazette
© Paul Towers 2015