The Ladykillers by Graham Linehan
Leicester Drama Society
The Little Theatre 9-14 November 2015
“implausibly preposterous tale”
A couple of years ago I saw the touring version of The
Ladykillers at Leicester’s Curve and was very impressed with the staging, writing
and acting. Leicester Drama Society’s production is equally as effective.
The set is outrageously unbelievable with a full three story
house and every technical trick needed to tell this implausibly preposterous tale
of a robbery gone wrong.
The story starts with the entrance of the most OTT pantomime
villain in Martin Bell’s evil Professor Marcus, the ‘brains’ behind the bank
job. Swooping around the auditorium like a predatory crow he swoops out just as
angelic Mrs Wilberfoce, Angela Edwards ably channelling Michel Dotrice, totters
around a similar path dispensing pleasantries to audience members before
removing her hat and coat and tidying it away. Mrs W, a frequent reporter to
the local constabulary, is wasting more police time with imaginings of Nazi war
criminals running sweet shops in Kings Cross.
Then comes the arrival of Professor Marcus and his band of
ne’er do wells who are to rent the old lady’s spare room for ‘band practice’. From
then on this is farce at its best. Adapted from the Ealing Studios film by
Father Ted’s Graham Linehan this a joyous homage to those old black and white Alec
Guiness comedies.
The main cast of
seven have impeccable timing both physically and verbally as mistakes
are made and covered up, slapstick abounds. Trapped into giving an actual
recital the tone deaf quartet end the first half in a raucous cacophony of
strangled cat noises.
The second half, following on from exactly the closing point
of the first half, gallops towards the actual robbery and the most imaginative
and hilarious car chase you will see in
a theatre! Anyone who has seen the film or the play will know that the
second half is a long drawn out denouement whereby the villains get their just
deserts. As the characters die off in ever more absurd and hilarious ways the
deliciously and misleadingly dotty Mrs Wilberforce comes into her own.
The Ladykillers is on at The Little Theatre until Saturday
14th November. As the entire run is sold out the only chance of
getting a seat is to call the box office on 0116 254 0472 and pray they have
had a returned ticket.
http://www.thelittletheatre.net/whats-on/the-lady-killers/
First published in Western Gazette
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