Because the original story was named ‘a Carol’, Dickens preferred to think of the book’s five chapters as being musical ‘Staves’. The first run of the book, bound in Moroccan leather, was sold for $45 a copy (today’s prices). Six thousand copies sold in a few weeks, however, even after seventh editions, Dickens made very little money from the book, being ripped off by a real-life Scrooge on the way. This had also happened to him earlier with ‘Martin Chuzzlewit’.

This lively and hilarious pantomime is two-and-a-quarter hours of guaranteed merriment. The show is being presented by The Darlington Theatre Players at the Marloo Theatre, Marloo Road, Greenmount every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evening at 7.30 until Saturday 10^th December. There are Sunday matinées at 2.00 pm.

The main set is the office of Scrooge’s Chocolate Factory, with shelves of books and pictures of the many lollies made there. Other vivid scenes include Jan Butty’s kitchen, a graveyard, and of course Scrooge’s meagre bedroom. The colourful sets were designed by George Boyd, and the numerous props provided by Lesley Sutton.

The full sized – 3-metre – flats and furnishings for each scene were changed silently and speedily under the supervision of Stage Manager Rob Warner, aided by his assistants David Bain and Belinda Beatty. The backstage ‘muscle’ was Guy Jackson, Adrian Ashman and Luke Miller.

       Author, Charles Dickens (Allan Lai) takes us into the office of a Chocolate Factory and points out the miserly owner, Ebenezer Scrooge (Richard Hadler). Since Ebenezer’s partner, the friendly and well-loved Jacob Marley (Timothy Presant) had died several years earlier, the work conditions at the factory have been getting increasingly miserable. The factory shop steward, Bob Cratchit (Peter White) has been paid minimal wages for decades by Scrooge. Cratchit lives in one of Scrooge’s crumbling houses with his dear wife, Mrs Cratchit (Sarah White) and their daughters, Susan (Molly O’Hehir) and Katy (Sophie David). They also have a weak and disabled son, Tiny Tim (Joshua White).

      Scrooge announces to his staff (Marjorie De Caux, Katherine Leevers, Shelly Miller) that they must come into work as normal on Christmas Day. The factory cook, Jan Butty (Jacqui Warner – fabulous) and her two useless, but hilarious assistants, Dough (Rachel Vonk) and Nut (Suzy June Wakeling) decide to cheer up their boss by baking him a cake.

      Just as he is about to go home, Bob answers the office door to two charity workers, Shirley (Jacqui Ashman) and Marjory (Lee Thompson), who are asking for donations for the poor. As they leave, Scrooge’s nephew, Fred (Blake Prosser) and his girlfriend, Elizabeth (Simone Willis) call around to invite Scrooge to their home for Christmas dinner – the reply is naturally ‘bah humbug’.

      On Christmas Eve, as the clock is striking midnight, Scrooge climbs into bed. Soon he is asleep. In his dreams, he meets the Ghost of Christmas Past (Ray Egan), who shows him the happiness that once surrounded him as a child. He sees his school friend, Jacob Marley (Caitlyn Moloney) trying to encourage young Ebenezer (Timothy Zuiddam) to enjoy himself. Then, years later as a young man, Scrooge (Guy Jackson) is seen spending his Christmas doing bookwork and trying to make more money. Even a visit from his childhood sweetheart, Belle (Natasha Smith, under-studied by Katherine Leevers) fails to make him happy.

       In a creepy sequence, Scrooge sees the people that he has treated badly, led by Head Spook (Tim Ward) and his Spook team (Jana Gardner, Lilly Miller, Niamh O’Herir, Sam White, Sarah Zuiddam) rising from their graves and dancing before him. (The first few seconds of this scene may disturb very young children, who have not experienced Halloween fun).

       The nightmare continues as the Spirit of Christmas Present (Suzanna Matla) appears in a beautiful white fur coat; she shows Scrooge the sadness and poverty of the Cratchit’s home. The Spirit of Christmas Future (Luke Miller) then arrives and demonstrates to Scrooge what a difference he could make to his workers’ lives.

       Scrooge goes into the street where he meets a paperboy (Jacob Clayton – very good) and asks him to buy a giant turkey from Mr Brisket, the butcher (Adrian Ashman), and then take it to the Cratchit household.

      Could life be changing for this wretched old miser?

 Choreographer, Rachel Vonk has done a wonderful job with such a large and young cast. With guidance of the experienced directors, Amanda Minutillo and Sallie Ketteringham, Rachel has mingled some of the performers amongst the audience, encouraging punter involvement. Well-rehearsed dancing and singing, accompanied by the catchy, perfectly balanced, pre-recorded tracks from Tony Perry, made specially to the directors’ requirements.

Richard Hadler was brilliant as Scrooge, insulting the audience and drawing plenty of boos and hisses banter throughout.

As Fezziwig, Luke Miller gave an energetic dance performance in the Gangnam style sequence. Little Lilly Miller, whilst very young, was faultless.

The singer of the evening was Tiny Tim (Joshua White), who must be congratulated on his beautiful rendition of ‘Where is Love?’ from ‘Oliver’, which he sang – unaccompanied – with great emotion and perfectly in tune. The sound designer for this fast moving complex show was Tony Perry, with Greg Rusha operating the desk. Great lighting from designer Mike Smale.

There must have been around a eighty costumes for this colourful show, but costume designers, Marjorie De Caux and Shelly Miller, along with their seamstresses gave us a real visual treat.

This really is a show for ALL of the family. Great songs, colour, jokes, slapstick and dancing, what more could one ask for? Another Marloo triumph.

Wilde prosecuted the father of his lover, the Marquis of Queensberry for libel, but the defence found he was gay, so instead Wilde was imprisoned for two years’ hard labour.

He died in Paris aged only 46 – destitute.

This lively satire from Serial Productions – the company that have brought us some of the community theatre’s biggest comedy hits of the past few years – is presented in conjunction with the Stirling Players at the Stirling Theatre, Morris Place, Innaloo. Once again, the group are pleased to be supporting the Heart and Lung Transplant Foundation of WA, with this production.

The two and a half hour witty and absurd performances are on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at the slightly earlier time of 7.30 pm, with matinées on Sunday 28^th August and 4^th September at 2.00 pm

It is the 1930s.   Act 1 is set in Algernon’s very smart, aristocratic sitting room with genuine Art Deco, quality furnishings (Lesley Sutton). The centrepiece is the famous fan-shaped window and doors of the period.

Act 2 is Jack Worthing’s Hertfordshire, country garden, complete with limestone wall, archway, trellis and garden furniture. Even the edge of the stage apron had miniature privet along its length.

Act 3 is Jack’s drawing room, overlooking the garden, had a dormer window and Victorian furniture.

The set was by George Boyd, Peter Clark and the team. Stirling Theatre’s own team provided the excellent lighting.

       Lane, the butler (Clare Fazackerley) sings as he tidies up Algernon’s flat, in preparation for the arrival of the brusque, controlling Lady Bracknell (Keith Scrivens) and her beautiful daughter, Gwendolen (Amanda Watson). Unexpectedly, Algernon’s (Joe Isaia) best friend, Jack (Rodney Van Groningen) calls around, he has come to tell the self-centred Algernon that he intends proposing to the ever orgasmic, Gwendolen.

     Algernon mentions to upright Jack, that he has found a cigarette case with what appears to be a love message engraved in it – from Jack to a woman. Could it be that Jack is leading a double life? as is Algernon, who has a secret friend ‘Bunbury’.

      The lecherous dandy, Algernon discovers that Jack’s ward, Cecily (Krysia Wiechecki) is now 18 years old, wealthy and ready for plucking. Surreptitiously, Algernon finds out where she lives and decides to pay her a visit, posing as Jack’s brother.

     Algernon calls whilst Cecily is studying with her middle-aged tutor, Miss Prism (Jacqui Warner). Being a typical teenager, Cecily is immediately besotted with Algernon, and so when Miss Prism goes out for a walk with her close friend, Dr. Chasuble the local rector (John Taylor), the passions flow – although the constant interruptions from Cecily’s butler, Merriman (Brendan Tobin) cramps her style.

When I heard that ‘The Importance of being Earnest’ was being staged yet again – I must have seen it more than a dozen times – I asked some of the cast ‘Why?’ and pointed out that they were making a mistake, it had been done to death. OK, I was wrong, very wrong.

Serial Productions are a team synonymous with quality. Being a closed group of well-proven actors, the acting is immaculate, the sets and costumes stunning, and the teching just goes that extra inch. Every aspect from the foyer display to the programme has been considered.

Even though director Peter Clark has won awards for his direction, and is a first class comedy actor, tackling ‘Earnest’ was still major a challenge. The purists may cringe, but Peter has chosen ‘a mild farce’ as the genre. The director has decided not to present the key line of the play in ‘Dame Edith style’, a slight disappointment. As the show progressed, I slowly came to the conclusion that this was probably the style that Oscar had in mind. It got so many more jokes, double entendres and touches of bawdiness than I have ever seen before, and they all worked so well. Hilarious.

Under the supervision of Rob Warner, the major scene change (by the cast) from sitting room to garden took only 60 seconds. At the beginning and end of every scene, Lane the Butler (Clare Fazackerley) melodically sang a few verses of songs from the period. Sound by George Boyd.

The costumes (Nyree Clark) were stunning, from the extravagant, dandyish outfit of Algy to the pastel silks of the young women. Then there was Lady Bracknell, again with stylish clothes, topped with a striking collection of feathered fascinators.

The date of the play has been moved forward 40 years to the mid-thirties, this has allowed for a fresh approach to the usual, slightly stuffy, Victorian approach.

Talking to some audience members, I was amazed how many had not seen the play before. This is a first class comedy, with a very clever set of storyline threads brilliantly presented. Seen it before? Then see it again – and love it.

Two and a half hours of non-stop fun from one of Perth’s best comedy teams.

Presented by the Darlington Theatre Players Inc, at the Marloo Theatre, 20 Marloo Road, Greenmount Hill, Mundaring. This hilarious, two-hour and a quarter hour play – which premiered in 1983 – can be seen on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8.00 until 7^th May. There are matinees on 24^th April 24 and 1^st May at 2.00 pm.

The scene is the 1980s in a USA fishing lodge in rural Georgia.

This set is another jaw-dropping production from the best set designer in the area – George Boyd. Built by a dozen hard workers, including the techs and cast, and working on a minimal budget we are presented with a massive, timber panelled, lounge (convincing painting by Adrian Ashman), a double staircase, a brick chimney, motel reception area and patio doors with rain lashing down outside. As always at the Marloo, there were numerous props to give that special touch of authenticity (Lesley Sutton, Ray Egan).

The sound effects were crisp (George Boyd) and operated perfectly by Belinda Beattie. Several lighting effects, including a lightning storm, were well planned by Michael Hart and David Bain, then operated by Brendan Tobin. There were several unusual – to say the least – costumes required, and Marjorie De Caux was there as always.

       When English SAS trainer, Froggy Le Soeur (Keith Scrivens) has to go to America for a course, he takes along his friend Charlie (Joe Isaia) who has marital problems and depressed. He also suffers from extreme nervousness when in company. In fact, he is petrified to talk to anyone. 

      The two men arrive at Betty Meeks (Jacqui Warner) country fishing lodge. Betty has the usual warm welcome, but it is obvious that she is hitting hard times and having trouble maintaining the guesthouse.

      To hide Charlie’s shyness, Froggy tells Betty that Charlie is a foreigner and cannot speak a word of English. Because of this false assumption, whilst Charlie sits having a cup of tea, he hears several private conversations, including the ‘love secrets’ of the local vicar, David (Rodney Van Groningen) and his fiancée, Catherine (Kylie Isaia). Within hours, further local scandals become exposed.

      Before long, Charlie finds himself being taught English by Catherine’s retarded brother, Ellard (Blake Prosser). Into the house comes a local undesirable, Owen (Richard Hadler) an inbred thug who hates ‘outsiders’. Very soon, Charlie is in major trouble.

The director, Robert Warner and his assistant Joe Isaia faced a major task putting on such an unusual style of comedy. They chose a fabulous cast, including some of Community Theatre’s funniest actors; the chemistry between them was outstanding.

The giggles poured out, with a couple of belly laughs a minute. There were no jokes, it could not be described as a farce, and yet it was one of the funniest shows I have seen in months. Although every actor was perfectly tuned in and each gave a tremendous performance, I am sure they will not mind me saying that it was Joe Isaia – with their help – who nailed it. His expressions and body language had the audience falling about. Superb teamwork.

This is a DON’T MISS production. Hilarious from the opening minutes.

The first stage production of ‘Noises Off’ starred Patricia Routledge (‘Hyacinth Bouquet’) and Paul Eddington (‘Yes Minister’).

Presented by Serial Productions, the quality team renowned for their comedies, who recently brought us the hugely successful ‘Open All Hours’ and ‘Blackadder’; this riotous play can be seen at the Old Mill Theatre, Mends Street, South Perth until Saturday August 29^th. There are two matinees, one on Sunday August 23^rd and the second on Saturday August 29^th both at 2.00 pm.

Serial Productions are generously supporting the WA Heart and Lung Transplant Foundation.

On the reasonably small stage of the Old Mill Theatre, multi-award winning set designer, George Boyd has managed to construct (aided by Liam Kirwan and Brendan Tobin) a two-storey set, which has to be rotated twice in each show. Considering that this old community theatre has no flies, mechanical equipment and limited resources, this is an unbelievable achievement.

On installing the set, it was found that a cross beam holding the theatre roof up stopped the rotation of the scenery. How was this major problem overcome? George allows the audience to see the second change, which took TWO – yes two – minutes to carry out, consequently receiving a massive cheer from the audience. The stage crew of David Seman, Natalie Watson and Owen Davis were supervised by stage manager, Rob Warner.

Act One is a dress rehearsal of a second rate farce, ‘Nothing On’ on the stage of the Grand Theatre, Weston-Super-Mare. It is set in ‘a delightful 16th-century posset mill’, recently updated by the owners who are now holidaying abroad. The house is now available to let.

The set comprises a Tudor-style sitting room, staircase and upstairs balcony leading to the bedrooms as viewed by the audience. In Act Two we see behind the set, as though looking out through the sitting room window to the audience beyond. The set for Act Three is as for the first Act.

   ‘Nothing On’ by Robin Housemonger (a fictional author) is a poorly written, sex romp that is nearing the end of its rehearsals; however, it is still full of fluffed lines, poor entrances and lost props. There is no hiding the fact that this touring troupe has absolutely no talent, nor has the company’s temperamental director, Lloyd Dallas (Peter Clark).

     We, the audience, watch as the whole of their dress rehearsal is enacted.

     In Act One, the telephone rings, Mrs Clackett (Jacqui Warner) the forgetful cleaner, enters the sitting room carrying a plate of sardines. She explains to the caller that the house owners, over-stressed Freddie Fellowes (Keith Scrivens) and his wife Belinda (Clare Fazackerley) are tax exiles living in Spain, and that the local estate agent, jealous Garry (Rodney van Groningen) is in charge of the letting. Just as Mrs Clackett goes into the kitchen, the front door opens and in walks Garry with Brooke (Krysia Wiechecki), the ultimate dumb blonde bimbo who keeps losing her contact lens. Thinking that the house is empty, he has arrived to show this ‘client’ around the property – especially the bedroom!

     Despite the dedicated hard work of the over-sensitive stage manager, Poppy (Kylie Isaia) and her confused assistant, Tim (Alan Markham) are struggling to keep up, as the props go missing and the production staggers on. At the end of the play, an aging burglar, played by an alcoholic ham called Selsdon (Brendan Tobin) breaks into the house. Being extremely deaf, Selsdon tends to miss most of his cues.

     One month later, the company are performing at the Theatre Royal in Ashton-under-Lyne. Act Two is under way for a matinée performance. We are now backstage, so the audience is effectively watching how the bitchy actors’ attitudes change when they come off stage. We become aware of their secret love affairs, the pandemonium of failing props and the panic created by missing actors.

   Act Three shows the end of the ten-week season, by now the company has reached Stockton-On-Tees. The quality of the show has deteriorated, with everyone passing the blame and at each other’s throats. Eventually, these backstage problems spill into the on-stage performances.

There were two excellent programmes (Scott Print), one for the real cast, the second a fun version of the touring troupe’s show.

A farce must have plenty of doors to aid confusion and mayhem, this show has 9 on two levels, and yet the timing of the dozens of entrances and exits was faultless. Props (provided by Lesley Sutton) such as the whisky bottle and the sardines, moved position every 10 seconds, and still the actors’ actions were immaculate, never missing a beat.

Joe Isaias was brave enough to take on the post of production director, but with his being an award winning actor, he co-ordinated the pandemonia, squeezing the humour out of every situation.

Every actor’s performance was stunning, producing the funniest version of this play that I have ever seen. There were jokes and incidents that have completely passed me by in the past. The pace was at a breakneck speed, hardly giving the audience a second to breathe before the next belly laugh. Most of these actors are producers of their own shows; could this be the reason for the perfection?

Within the play ‘Nothing On’, each actor’s on-stage personality was different to their private demeanour off-stage. Garry was a clear and assured actor, but a stammering highly jealous person behind the scenes – Garry (Rodney) had a painful episode that left me cringing. Brooke fluttered, hilariously, like an egotistical yet damaged butterfly. Director Lloyd was trying hard to have an affair, audition for Richard III and still direct his lousy cast.

The superbly constructed script was clever in the way that a minor incident, such as the mention of ‘blood’ could breathe disaster to Freddie. This would then lead to dissonance amongst the others, as they all fell over like skittles. The final entry of Selsdon as the robber was hilarious as he was ‘shadowed’ in every wooden, overacting pose.

There was some slapstick, but not the blatant in-your-face cream pie, but with unlikely props such as the telephone, contact lenses and the ever present sardines. The well-designed costumes ranged from sexy and attractive, to that of the robbers’ and the cleaner woman were all produced by Clare Wood and Jacqui Warner.

The lighting was by Liam Kirwan and the sound courtesy of George Boyd.

This complex play was so slick at every level that it left the audience breathless and yet begging for more. If you love zany, madcap humour or simply admire advanced theatrical skills, then this is the show for you. This will be memorable for years to come. Stunning.