Tom, Dick and Harry
By Ray Cooney, Michael Cooney
Saturday August 26^th

A lovely night out. Audience loved it. A lot of tittering and belly laughs. What a good farce should be about.

I didn't see the publicity material, but it was a full house and so the publicity. must have worked. The programme was nicely presented with good photographs and sufficient information to assist in enjoyment of the performance, especially for me, as I was new to the Group's work. My companion and I were graciously received and we were given a theatre tour after the show which was both interesting and informative. The atmosphere was really warm and friendly. I always find raffles necessary but intrusive and I felt the raffle here extended the interval such that we had to start building up the atmosphere again in the second half.

The studio is a lovely little space, with emphasis on the little. Four entrances through solid doors, a window which was used to good effect and stairs to an upper area, were the key physical elements of this set. They all looked good and nothing around them moved when doors were opened or shut. The furniture and fittings all worked well, especially the settee, which was very well conceived and built. How did Mrs. Potter manage to spend so much time in the smallest dining room I have ever seen?

This was mostly a single lighting position. The lighting was bright and cheerful and added to the atmosphere. There were both off stage and sound desk cues which were all executed accurately, on cue, and were appropriate to the acting.

These were well chosen and suitable for the parts employed. Whilst very amusing, I wasn' t sure whether the refugee's costumes were appropriate. They looked as if they were going to perform a circus act. However, in the unbelievable world of Ray Cooney, anything goes, I suppose. I found that Katrina's make-up made her look a bit like a puppet. Harry's wig was a bit unnatural.

This was not an easy play to direct, and I thought Simon made a really good job of it. The usual comings and goings through doors and windows were well choreographed. The miming must have needed a lot of rehearsal and was well done. I was a bit concerned that Mrs. Potter had got glued to the floor between the settee and dining room at one point, but the movement was well managed The cast were, in the main, very comfortable with the dialogue and this meant they were able to act out the mayhem with confidence. I have no idea how close the Refugee's language was to their native country and I couldn't easily pick out the made up 'cod' language speeches from the genuine. However, it all seemed to work well with the audience. I felt that the second act was a bit slow but I suspect it was the fault of the way the play was written rather than in performance. There were so many story lines in this play which needed to be tidied up. We could hear all the cast very well and the movement was good.

This was an assured, laid -back performance. He handled the dialogue well, especially where fast delivery was required. His hand movements, I thought were particularly good. At each unfortunate, bewildering new event, he reacted in an unflappable way and took his time trying to work out what new lie he could use to explain his new predicament. Confident and breezy. Nice empathy with Refugees. He used his eyes to good effect to show surprise and confusion and had a great smile. Miming was well done. I felt he would have been an interesting companion on a night out Had a tendency to react to events physically before they happened. He seemed to want to do things himself rather than have things done to him. A likeable character with good facial expression. Good amusing physical movement.

I liked the team playing of the three Brothers Her pleasure at her unexpected news at the end of the play was lovely to see. The actor gave a good contrast with the ridiculous behaviour of her husband and his brothers. Movement was good and she spoke her lines clearly with the right level of incredulity and admonition as circumstances changed. Energetic and confident. Both she and Andreas handled their dialogue brilliantly. Speaking in a foreign language and 'gobbledy gook' took some doing. She had an engaging personality and related well to the audience. As above for dialogue. A very lively confident, charismatic performance with good movement. He did well not to go over the top with this extrovert character, which he played with humour and pathos. His flute playing was a bonus. A standard lugubrious policeman. I thought he was going to burst out laughing at one point but he controlled it well. He did not move very much from his designated spot on the stage. He stuck to his role in determined way, slightly confused by the large number of offences which he encountered. Well cast. Seemed very much the super- efficient lady from the adoption agency, An imposing figure with a nice line in hand gestures. The absolute image of the Balkan people smuggler. Great casting. Was overcome rather too easily, I thought, and he accepted his capture with better grace than I would have done.

The group did very well with a difficult farce, The show was well received and the hard work certainly paid off.

John Sanders    Adjudicator

Tom Dick & Harry,
Dovercourt Theatre Group
At The Studio Theatre, Dovercourt on 25^th August 2023
Director - Simon Reader,
Assistant Director – Abi Potter
Written by Ray and Michael Cooney
Review – Catherine Dixey

I have not been to the Studio Theatre in Dovercourt before and found it to be a small intimate theatre where you feel very much part of the production. A typical farce by Ray and Michael Cooney, the acting space, albeit very small was well designed; set out as a living room with five entrances for the cast to be continually coming and going in this hilarious comedy.

We meet the Kerwood family Tom and his wife Linda, along with Tom's two brothers Dick and Harry. Tom and Linda are wanting to adopt a baby and are eager to impress the women from the agency. Not wanting to give too much away, unsurprisingly things do not go well. This incredibly complex plot involves smuggled brandy and cigarettes, illegal immigrants and a dead body. Confused, you will be!! Subplot after incredible subplot present themselves and soon make us lose track of the original storyline in a frantic and mind boggling series of events.

All the characters were well cast. The three brothers played by Rob Porter (Tom), Chris Holman (Dick) and Richard Kemp-Luck (Harry) demonstrated the different personalities of each character brilliantly. Rob as the calming influence, Chris as the 'Jack The Lad', and Richard as the dreamer and schemer. Tom being aided and abetted by his long suffering wife Linda (Katherine Johnson), who gave a very convincing performance. The Croatian illegal immigrants, were Katerina (Gemma Holman-Quinn) and Andreas (Greg McDowell). He was often drunk, and surprised us with his great clarinet playing. They were both unable to speak any English and coped amazing well with the semi parrot fashion language the script called for while still demonstrating in actions and attitudes what they were actually trying to say. Good supporting roles were played by Andrew Dace as Constable Downs, Liz McLeod as Mrs Potter and Jordan Brown as Boris completed this talented cast.

The set was designed in-house and worked well along with good lighting and sound. Costumes all looked good, (though I was fascinated by Harry's wig!) with no mishaps as characters were pushed backwards through windows and stuffed under the sofa. Amazingly the cast coped with all the designed confusion with plenty of energy. Quite an achievement! Under Simon's direction the fast pace, so essential in a farce of this type, was well maintained throughout, but with some good timing as the puns and jokes kept coming thick and fast. All credit to this very capable and experienced cast. The excellent teamwork necessary to carry off this type of production was very clearly evident throughout the cast.

You certainly gave us and all the appreciative audience a very enjoyable evening's entertainment.

Catherine Dixey,
NODA Representative District E12 on behalf of Hazel Hole