Reviewed by Stephanie Johnson
Jan 2011
Doors Open. Doors Close. People miss each other by seconds. ACTAD’s latest farce is a typical one.
Therein lies the problem. There are no surprises – just a mundane script with which the cast valiantly embraces, but which fails to inspire.
“Home is Where Your Clothes Are” is a poor cousin compared to the likes of infamous farces such as “Fawlty Towers” and “No Sex Please We’re British.” It is difficult to believe that “No Sex Please” shares co-author Anthony Marriot with this play.
Co-written by Marriott and Bob Grant “Home” is set in the garden flat, or basement, of a Victorian Villa in London. ACTAD underwhelms with its set, the best of which can be said is that the doors are all in the correct place.
Director Grant Lucas has chosen a bold and talented cast headed by Brian Godfrey as Major Alan Buxton. Godfrey rises to the occasion and is Cleese-like in his efforts as the Major who attempts to juggle the timing of tenants in the over-let basement flat.
Allison Scharber shines as the young tenant Jill Palmer. Scharber’s performance is polished and professional, as is Anthony Lamond as alternating tenant Philip Clarke.
Hugh Rowland and Elizabeth Welling make the most of their roles as the mismatched spouses,
Brian Sexton elicits much of the humour with not-so-subtlesexual innuendo when he arrives as yet another prospective tenant, Humphrey Bennett QC.
Wikipedia describes a farce as a “comedy which aims to entertain the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include sexual innuendo.”
ACTAD’s opening night audience may agree that the company achieves this aim, if laughs are anything to judge by, however, this is largely due to the individual performances rather than the production as a whole.
