Award-winning television writer Graham Lineham's adaptation of the classic comedy, The Ladykillers, has hit the London stage running. The production is playing to record houses every night at the Gielgud Theatre, a Delfont Macintosh Theatre. Although this is Lineham's first West End comedy, he is no stranger to the genre having penned the well-known TV series Father Ted, The IT Crowd, and many others. The play is directed by by the acclaimed writer and director, Sean Foley, co-author (with Hamish McColl and Eddie Braben) of Play What I Wrote. The production is designed by Michael Taylor.
The Play...
Mrs Wilberforce, a somewhat eccentric elderly lady, has rooms to let. Professor Marcus and his friends take the rooms, convincing the old lady they are amateur musicians rehearsing for a concert. They do indeed have a pile of musical instruments, and Mrs Wilberforce assumes the music she hears is live, whereas it is actually a recording used as a ruse to cover their criminal plotting. In reality they are planning to rob a security van and decide to use Mrs Wilberforce as cover, without her knowledge.
The job is successful, but when One-Round gets his cello case caught in the front door the case bursts open and his share of the banknotes spills out onto the floor. Mrs Wilberforce figures out what they are up to and threatens to tell the police. The only answer is to get rid of her, but from here on the plan falls apart with hilarious consequences.
Starring...
The original 1955 Ealing classic comedy, which still makes regular re-appearances on British television, received two BAFTA awards and was nominated for an Oscar. The film starred Alec Guinness (Professor Marcus); Cecil Parker (Claude, a.k.a. 'Major Courtney'); Herbert Lom (Louis, a.k.a. 'Mr. Harvey'); Peter Sellars (Harry, a.k.a. 'Mr. Robinson'); Danny Green (One-Round, a.k.a. 'Mr. Lawson'); Jack Warner (The Superintendent); Katie Johnson (The Old Lady); Philip Stainton (The Sergeant) and Frankie Howerd (The Barrow Boy).
The cast of Lineham's adaptation includes some of the best-known stage and screen comedy actors. BAFTA winner Peter Capaldi, known for his performances in The Thick of It, Torchwood and Local Hero, plays the part of Professor Marcus. James Fleet, known for his long-running character Hugo Horton in the British television comedy series The Vicar of Dibley, plays Major CourtneyFollowing her appearance in Hattie (2011), a television film based on the life of British actress Hattie Jacques, Marcia Warren takes the role of the naively innocent Mrs Wilberforce. One-Round Lawson is played by Olivier Award winner Clive Rowe, and Louis Harvey is played by Ben Miller. Evening Standard Outstanding Newcomer, Stephen Wight, takes the role of Harry Robinson.
The Ladykillers will close on 14th April 2012. However, speaking recently to the theatrical magazine The Stage, producer Edward Snape said the play, after a successful trial at Liverpool Playhouse, had recouped its initial £750,000 capitalisation within a few weeks of opening in London. He has plans to bring the play back to the London stage later in the year.
Tickets can be purchased from Delfont Macintosh Theatres and all good ticket agencies.
Frances Spiegel - Frances Spiegel, B.A. Hons. (Open)., Dip.Eur.Hum., read Art History/European Modern History at the Open University.
