[usr 4]
If you are looking for a show with lots of laughs and clever misunderstandings that is created by an implausible plot, which keeps getting more and more convoluted as lie follows lie, then Ray Cooney’s FUNNY MONEY is definitely for you. Yet another top rate production by Castle Hill Players this British farce just gets better and better as the characters manage to tangle themselves ever more in knots. By interval one wonders how it could all possibly be successfully unraveled, but by the very end things are sorted, though in a quite unexpected way.
Julian Floriano’s direction ensures that all the characters work in harmony to set up wonderful chaos – we have briefcases swapping, characters pretending to be other non-existent characters, husbands and wives swapping, a gangster, various doors for characters to leave and enter and of course, a police officer apparently unaware of most of it.
[usr 4]
Seemingly a simple accountant, Henry Perkins, played by Ben Freeman, accidentally picks up a briefcase containing a very large amount of money and rather than hand it in, decides to head to Barcelona with his wife Jean, played by Vanessa Henderson. That is all a bit much for her, so she takes to the bottle and when their friends Betty Johnson, played by Leigh Scanlon, and her husband Vic, played by Stephen Snars, arrive, a chain of events is set in motion that is all fast forward. Add to the mix a taxi driver Billie, played by Deb Lewis, a shady copper Davenport, played by Ben Wheeler, a straight copper, Slater, played by Daisy Alexis and a very suspect passer-by, played by Constance Halstead there are all the ingredients for a nasty mess. However, this is just the start as a number of characters also pretend to be non-existent relatives of the Perkins to cover holes as the plausibility of the story which sinks further downhill.
The cast all do a marvellous job, working together with excellent timing and interactions. Ben Freeman suddenly seizing his chance at a new life, Vanessa sinking from the mild wife into an alcoholic haze, Stephen Snars always just a step behind what is going on, Leigh Scanlon thoroughly enjoying having a dangerous flirt, Ben Wheeler, the slick but bent copper after anything he can get, Deb Lewis knowing more than she lets on, Daisy Alexsis, who skills as a police officer are not the sharpest as the action flows around her, and Constance Halstead whose timing is most unfortunate for her health.
Set design by Julian Badman provides excellent scope for characters to hide or be out of the room and therefore miss vital clues. Lighting design, James Winters, and Sound design, Bernard Teuben, heighten the tension and laughs.
Playing at the Pavilion Theatre, Castle Hill until 22 April this show will have you leaving the theatre with a big smile and wondering how finally, it did all come together.
Photos courtesy of Chris Lundie
