Oh Clarence! - November 2007

Oh Clarence! by John Chapman
Hoghton Village Hall, Novemberl 2007

A hilarious comedy based on one of P.G. Wodehouse's most famous characters, Lord Emsworth, the dreamy peer of Blandings Castle. The delightful Earl, as vague as ever, wants nothing more than to be allowed to potter around Blandings, tending his roses and prize pig, the Empress. But his sister, Lady Constance, has other ideas and arranges a house party into which bursts Dame Daphne Winkworth, whom the Earl is urged, much against his will, to marry. He is further plagued by his vacuous son Freddie Threepwood, Rupert Bingham, a clumsy love-lorn curate and his arch enemy Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, from whom Lord Emsworth unwittingly steals a priceless Egyptian scarab


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Cast

Director - Margaret Jones Producer - Veronica Roper

Lady Constance Keeble - Angela Fowler Beach - Harold Eastham The Hon. Freddie Threepwood - Matthew Seed Clarence, Earl of Emsworth - Brian Hoyle

Gertrude Wibberley - Rebecca Cohen Dame Daphne Winkworth - Ruth Jones Jennifer Parsloe Parsloe - Anne-Marie Flood Sir Gregory Parsloe Parsloe - Mark Howard

Rev. Rupert Bingham - Andy Jones Dr Simmonds - Richard Torpey Sir Eustace Chalfont, GBE, MRCP - Paul Santus


Crew

Stage Manager - Fiona Wignall Props - Carol McCann & Emma Gardner Set Build - Graham Brindle, Brian Hoyle, Ian Murray, Steve Wignall, Heather Ward, Joyce Hoyle

Prompt - Val Critchley Wardrobe - Angela Fowler Hair & Make-up - Millie Santus & Carol Brindle Sound & Lighting - Mike Ward & Andrew Hammerton

Publicity - Joyce Hoyle, Sandra Hampson Programme - Joyce Hoyle

Front of House - Stephanie Murray & Team Bar - Brent & Rosemary Kusisto & Team Box Office - The Filling Station


Review:
Quinton J. Falkus

Perfect entertainment for a cold winter’s night - that’s the verdict on Oh Clarence!, adapted from P.G.Wodehouse’s The Blandings Stories.
This talented drama group really put some hard work into this one, staged at Hoghton Village Hall and at Hoghton Tower, and I’m sure that the many people who attended during the run and supported the play, will be back to enjoy future productions.
There were tour de force performances from all corners of the stage, and in particular Angela Fowler, as the somewhat haughty but put upon Lady Constance Keeble, sister to Clarence, ninth Earl of Emsworth (Brian Hoyle) and the idiotic Hon. Freddie Threepwood, played with enthusiasm and great humour by Matthew Seed. They all deserve the highest praise.
The farce, based around a priceless Egyptian scarab which the pompous and arrogant Sir Gregory Parsloe Parsloe is determined to retrieve from pig-lover Clarence - pocketed absent-mindedly during a visit by his foe - ends in riotous style.
Hapless Clarence is shot in the bottom by guest Dame Daphne Winkworth and the shootings don’t end there, as Sir Gregory also takes some lead in the gluteus maximus, courtesy of Lady Constance.
Somehow you get the feeling that justice is done when Sir Gregory is pursued at the play’s end by the dreadful Dame Daphne, while Clarence and his sister are left to carry on their gentle life at Blandings Castle, much as it was before the mysterious scarab worked its magic.
A big well done is due to the hard-working backstage team at Hoghton Players, and the following should all take a bow. Margaret Jones (Director) - Huzzah! Assistant Director (Millie Santus) Huzzah! Veronica Roper (Producer) Huzzah! and the hard-working bar staff (Brent and Rosemary Kuisto and team) who kept this thirsty scribe well lubricated - HUZZAH! Fiona Wignall, the stage manager, also deserves a big well done.
Finally, PG Wodehouse once observed that in order to write in a disciplined manner, the secret was to apply one’s backside to the chair, and as a busy drama critic, and man about town, time has been in short supply, so my apologies for only writing this now.

Quinton J. Falkus