Fingers Finkle – Andy Childs
Harry’ Safe Hands’ Hooper – Lyn Hinde
Ginger Minks – Pete Tincknell
Sir Forsythe Cumberland – Mark Parry
Jemima Cumberland – Ella Mae Redmore
Delores Cumberland – Liz Owen
Roger Cumberland – Mark Wall
Tarquin Wormsley – George Parry
Lady Petunia Wormsley – Rosie Winstone
Sir Reginald Wormsley – Alan Wood
Lady Anastasia Cumberland – Imogen Crees
Ralph Hollocks – Paul Reynolds
Carlton Heathcote – Graham Blunt
Evelyn Heathcote – Rachel Parry
Felicity Stickleback – Louise Cooper
Muriel McPherson – Doreen Grant
Sebastian Dupont – Steve French
Detective Mortimer Quips – Di Harris
Detective Judy Morris – Jenny Candler
Deidre Johnson – Violet Healey
Prompt – Linda Wood
Make Up – Jane Pruden, Fen Jones
Lights – Ann Gouldney
Sound – Polly Carroll
Stage Manager – Jane Pruden
Photography – Myrtle Pizzey
Bar/Front of House – Gill Tincknell, Adele Reynolds, Stephen Harrison
Tea and Biscuits – Gay and Stephen Harrison
Sponsorship – Jump
Wookey Theatre Group loves to make audiences laugh and their latest production certainly delivers, creating absolute chaos in the best way possible.
The two-act farcical comedy centres around three escaped criminals who, trying to lay low in a luxury hotel, find themselves in a catastrophic society wedding, then hatch a plot to steal a priceless painting.
It’s old school silly nonsense at its best, full of great one-liners and brought to life by a brilliant ensemble cast who have honed their comic timing to perfection.
The escaped criminals (Andy Childs, Lyn Hinde and Pete Tincknell) are hysterical in their roles, delivering lines with bewildering straight faces and giving a masterclass in how just a look can be hilarious.
The wedding party are all exceptional, and the cast deliver their lines back and forth with rapid ease. Special mention to Mark Parry as the charming kilt-clad Sir Forsythe Cumberland and Imogen Crees who makes a dramatic entrance as his boat-rocking ex-wife, Lady Anastasia. Liz Owen is a hoot with her high-brow, old lady persona, and Rosie Winstone’s drunken moments are wonderful.
Controlling the nuptials are ever-optimistic wedding planners, Doreen Grant and Steve French, who delights the audience with his superbly camp Frenchman, Sebastian Dupont. And as the police finally arrive to restore law and order to the hilarious havoc – Di Harris is dryly fabulous in her role as Detective Quips – the audience is left reeling with laughter along with some confusion. Did we know what was happening in the story? Not really. Did it matter? Absolutely not – we were having a ball!
As ever, the Wookey Theatre Group, under the leadership of Polly Carroll and Ann Gouldney, work so cleverly with their small stage. The creative team used wonderful scenic design and costumes to add to the laughs, with lighting and sound adding to the quick-paced utter joy of this play.