Written by Ray Cooney, by arrangement with Samuel French Ltd.
Directed by Lesley Rae
As always for the Medstead players, the acting was excellent. However, there was a lot more to it than that statement, especially if you were sitting there, as I was, totally unaware of what was going to happen on that stage.
First of all the strange attitude of the husband, Henry, towards his doting wife when he arrived home for his birthday tea and immediately began making plans to leave the country. Jean tried very hard to accept that he was drunk, but when he opened the briefcase, which she had packed with his sandwiches and scarf and gloves and revealed all that 'funny money', one had to have sympathy with him.
It got from bad to worse when she refused to go and went onto the drink instead, getting gloriously tipsy as the play went on. Then the arrival of the Inspector on some peculiar business to do with Henry being accused of soliciting, men! He was suspicious of the taxi driver, so another excuse had to be made - inventing a sister who was returning to Australia, and later her husband. Upstairs they were supposed to be, but there was no one there. Fortunately the inspector proved to be susceptible to bribery, so the money came in useful there, and he was able to be kept in the kitchen out of the way.
However, the next visitor proved to be an Inspector from another district, who came to advise Jean that her husband had been found dead (murdered) in the river, together with a soggy briefcase. This turned out to be his all right, so this time Jean had to invent a name for the man hovering over her, obviously not her husband. Things went from bad to worse when the friends arrived for the birthday meal, and had to be given fictitious names too, as the sister and brother-in-law on their way back to Australia. The poor taxi driver was at his wit's end, with all the changes of personalities and destinations.
The audience were delighted at one point, when because Jean was so drunk and definite about not going to live in Barcelona that the couples decided to swap partners - seemed so right at the time. However, the plot got more and more confusing, name swapping, couple swapping, money changing hands, the poor briefcase constantly going to the wrong person. You began to think that they would all end up in gaol, penniless to say the least. Well, you would be wrong.
The audience went wild with laughter and enthusiasm as the taxi driver, Stan Whitcher, completely saved the day, and the play ended with the cast jumping and dancing about in a shower of 'funny money'.
All the characters played their parts to perfection. Sensible efficient Henry - David Rae; beautifully tipsy Jean - Carol Bedingfield; suspicious but bent copper Davenport - Terry Tonks; irate, confused taxi driver Bill - Stan Whitcher; pretty and ready for anything Betty - Sue Millett; bemused, abused Vic - Mark Aston; totally completely in charge (of what?) D.S.Slater - Stuart Laidlaw; and a suitably wild 'Mr. Nasty' - Dominic Clifford. Pity we didn't see 'Pussy'.
Congratulations to the Director Lesley Rae, plus all the backstage crew, and to Jenny Overy, Front of House manager with all her helpers. As always, Medstead managed to entertain in a very polished manner, certainly giving enjoyment and satisfaction to the audience.
[Jean Gebbett]
Funny Money, the Medstead Players' spring production, is a typical Ray Cooney farce - fast, frantic and with each improbable situation leading to another, even more ludicrous, within minutes.
The main character, accountant Henry Perkins (David Rae) is on his way home for his birthday celebration dinner with his wife Jean (Carol Bedingfield) and friends Vic and Betty (Mark Aston and Sue Millett). However, he mistakenly picks up the wrong briefcase on the underground and when he opens it discovers that it is full of used £50 notes. He goes into a nearby pub to count it in the gents' loo (twice) and finds that it totals £735,000.
By the time he arrives home he has decided that the best plan is to get a quick flight out of the country for himself and his wife before the real owner of the briefcase can catch up with him. However, his wife Jean doesn't want to go abroad to live, and although hitherto a teetotaller, her reaction to the situation is to take to drink.
When the doorbell rings, Henry is shocked to find a policeman, Sgt Davenport (Terry Tonks), wanting to interview him. Henry thinks he has been rumbled about the money, but it turns out that Davenport suspects him of soliciting for men in the pub loo earlier because of his strange behaviour.
When taxi driver Bill (Stan Whitcher) arrives to take them to the airport, Henry tries to cover the fact that they are leaving the country by pretending to Davenport that the taxi is for his brother and sister-in-law, Percy and Adelaide, who are returning to Sydney. Of course, when Betty and Vic turn up, expecting a nice birthday dinner, they are immediately pressed by Henry into pretending to be the departing Australian relations. Jean, meanwhile, is finding all this totally beyond her comprehension and becomes more and more inebriated.
Just when it seems that events couldn't be more complicated, another policeman arrives at the door, this time a Sgt Slater (Stuart Laidlaw), who wants to talk to Mrs Perkins. He tells her that a body has been discovered in the river, murdered, and the police believe it to be Henry because of the contents of the briefcase that was with it. Slater wants Jean to accompany him to identify the body, but at this point, Henry himself walks in from the kitchen.
Matters become increasingly convoluted as everyone tries to prevent Slater finding out about the money (including Davenport, who has been bribed with sufficient cash to get him "on side"). Sinister phone calls from "Mr Big" who is looking for his money and has tracked down where Henry lives, cause total panic (just one of many hilarious incidents involved Henry adopting a false Indian accent on the phone and pretending to be an Indian takeaway).
Briefcases are muddled up, Slater unknowingly goes off with the money, but then it gets reclaimed only for "Mr Big" (Dominic Clifford) to come crashing in near the end to demand his money at gunpoint. After a joint effort attack on "Mr Big", he is overpowered and Bill the taxi driver ultimately saves the day by having appropriated most of the money earlier and stashing it away in the suitcase that Henry was going to use to leave the country.
Pace and timing are always crucial elements in farce and this production met these criteria extremely well. The two main characters, Henry and Jean, were played superbly and the whole cast contributed to ensure an excellent evening's entertainment. Intervention from the prompter was minimal and unobtrusive and a mention must be made of special effects. In the struggle with "Mr Big", gunshots hit a picture, a radio and a cuckoo clock, the timing of this was all spot on, with the cuckoo clock cuckooing frantically as it fell - perfect! The audience obviously enjoyed this immensely and were roaring with laughter!
David Rae played the increasingly frantic Henry very convincingly and Carol Bedingfield's portrayal of Jean, as she wrestled drunkenly to put on her coat, both upside down and back to front, stole the scene. Mark Aston and Sue Millett as Vic and Betty looked sophisticated and glamorous enough for a James Bond film, but neither of their characters were averse to slicing themselves some of Henry's amazing windfall, Vic by selling his car to Henry at a vastly inflated price, and Betty by agreeing to go away with Henry if Jean refused to go! Stan Whitcher was in his element, with wisecracks and one-liners, as Bill the cockney taxi driver, who was also keen to get himself a share of Henry's cash. Terry Tonks and Stuart Laidlaw, as Davenport and Slater, both obviously enjoyed playing "bent cop" and "hard cop" respectively, and made the most of their roles with enthusiasm. Dominic Clifford played a very effective cameo role as "Mr Big", impressively made up with blood and bruising, and with a terrifying mad expression.
Lesley Rae was the director of Funny Money and is to be congratulated for drawing such fine performances from her cast, and giving the audiences on all three evenings such good entertainment.
[Pam Kercher]
 |
Henry Perkins (an insignificant middle-aged middle-class accountant) - David Rae
Jean Perkins (his pretty wife) - Carol Bedingfield
Vic Johnson (a brash friend of the Perkinses) - Mark Aston
Betty Johnson (Vic's pretty, middle aged, cheerful wife) - Sue Millett
Bill (a London taxi driver of spirit) - Stan Whitcher
Davenport (a 'bent copper' & sparse middle-aged man) - Terry Tonks
Slater (a 'straight copper' & a solicitous and kindly soul, until provoked) - Stuart Laidlaw
Passer-by ('Mr Nasty') - Dominic Clifford