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Your Trousers?
|
| Cast | |
| Howard | Ian Saxton |
| Penny | Linda Gay |
| Jimmy | Mark Campbell |
| Tové | Helen Bezer |
| Neighbour | Michael Martin |
| Deidre | Stephanie Dungate |
| Captain Webber | Horry Stapleton |
| Constable | Paul Lay |
| Inspector | Paul Friett |
| Gorilla-gram | Keith Dungate |
| Crew | |
| Stage Manager | Jenny Devonshire |
| Assistant Stage Manager | Richard Banks |
| Set Design | Roz Betts, Ron Andrews |
| Backstage | Gemma Cole, Steve Grubb |
| Properties | Paul Grimshaw |
| Lighting | Jerry McKeon, David Shields |
| Sound | Ben Laing |
| Bed Head Creators | Bernard Tilley, Alex Cooper |
Previews
A traditional-style farce is coming to the Edward Alderton Theatre, Brampton Road, Bexley-heath. When Did You Last See Your Trousers?, written by Ray Galton and John Antrobus, starts when a burglar steals Howard's suit while he is asleep with his girlfriend, Penny. He wakes up to announce he is going back to his wife and this is when the fun begins.
Hapless Howard has to get back to his wife wearing only his vest and pants and before he knows it he is being chased around by his Danish au pair, the Home Secretary and a randy Constable. Other farcical characters include a punk with rainbow-coloured hair, a gravelly-voiced captain and a singing telegram gorilla - it promises to be an outrageous evening of risqué fun. The production runs from February 5 to 12 and tickets can be booked at the box office on 020 8301 5584.
Woolwich News Shopper | 5 January 2005
A hilarious farce beginning quietly enough with Howard and Penny sleeping in bed. Things take a turn for the worse when a burglar climbs through the window and proceeds to steal various items, including Howard's suit. Awakening, Howard announces his intention to get back to his wife! But how is he to make it to Esher without his trousers, having been left with only his vest and pants? Before you can say 'jockey shorts' he is being chased around the flat by his Danish au pair, the Home Secretary and a randy constable! Add to this a punk with rainbow coloured hair, a gravely-voiced Captain and a singing telegram gorilla and you have the ingredients for a night of outrageous fun!
Edward Alderton Theatre, Brampton Road,
Bexleyheath -Box Office 020 8301 5584 (open 6pm to 8pm Monday to
Friday). 5th - 12th February - When Did You Last See Your Trousers?
by Ray Galton and Jon Antrobus. Tickets £6
Bexley Chronicle | February 2005
Comic romp
With the title When Did You Last See Your Trousers?, the latest production at Bexleyheath's Edward Alderton Theatre just had to be a traditional English farce with all the additives of scantily dressed young ladies (and males), illicit affairs, bedroom action and lots of doors, crafted with well-matured skills to try to make a ridiculous plot seem as plausible as possible.
In this case, the play was crafted by Ray Galton and John Antrobus, both superb comedy writers, whose names were, unfortunately, omitted from the programme. The director Roz Betts made up for this by generating a bouncy, inventive, and ultimately chaotic version of the work to ensure that everyone in the cast (including a gorilla) had a good time. With every performance sold out, this seemed the perfect way to ensure the fun was transmitted to the audiences. For some reason, however, the action on the opening night was funny but rarely seemed to sparkle. And even though the characterizations were superb, I suspect that the actors needed another performance to streamline the complexities of the storyline.
Here, a middle-aged married man (Ian Saxton) is asleep in bed with his young mistress (Linda Gay) when a rather noisy burglar breaks into the bedroom. Finding little of value, he takes the man's clothes including, of course, his trousers. When the couple wake up, panic sets in when the ageing Lothario cannot leave the flat to return to his wife. Also involved is a Danish au pair and dedicated nymphomaniac (Helen Bezer), who has a Goth-like friend (Mark Campbell) complete with leathers, chains, badges, a variety of skin piercing attachments, and spiky multi-coloured hair.
A senior government minister (Michael Martin) and his tarty mistress (Stephanie Dungate), a great portrayal of a retired and doddery old army captain (Harry Stapleton), a perverted police constable (Paul Lay), a gorilla, and an over-zealous police inspector (Paul Friett) gave the actors opportunities aplenty to create some great characters, which they did.
Set in 1986, a small mobile phone seemed to be in the wrong decade while the offstage elements of some critical telephone conversations were sometimes inaudible. But the director had built the base for a very successful production that would have progressed to one of great merit. And Ian Saxton's impersonation of a femme fatale was a delight.
Roy Atterbury
Kentish Times | 17 February 2005
Cast just pulls it off
The cast of the Edward Alderton Theatre stripped down once more in their latest production - When Did You Last See Your Trousers? With a penchant for slapstick humour and an ability to pull it off - quite literally - with hilarious timing, the cast put their all into this latest play. The action took place in Penny's Knightsbridge flat with the hapless Howard waking up in his mistress's flat to find his suit missing and a nightmare only just beginning. Without his suit how can he get home to his wife?
Ian Saxton and Linda Gay starred as Howard and Penny. Ian adopted an amusing hard-done-by manner as the love rat, which complemented Linda's no-nonsense Penny. The chaos continued with Penny's punk ex-boyfriend Jimmy (Mark Campbell) and Howard's sex-mad au pair Tové showing up. The cast projected a fun, feelgood feeling and clearly enjoyed the performance.
Nick Marsden
Bexley Extra | 18 February 2005
When did you Last See Your Trousers?, directed by Roz Betts, was highly entertaining stuff. It is a madcap farcical comedy centred on Howard, who loses his clothes to a burglar whilst sleeping with his mistress at her flat, and his attempts to secure some clothes in order to return to his wife. His girlfriend suggests borrowing some from her punk friend Jimmy; an old chum, Captain Webber, tries to help out by bringing some spare clothes; Howard decides to burgle a neighbour's flat and when he finally obtains a suit it gets stolen by a perverted Home Secretary who is soon to lose his memory. As fast as suits come and go, so do other characters including Howard's Danish au pair, a randy constable, corrupt police inspector, saucy Welsh woman and a Gorilla-gram! To cap it all Howard ends up dressed as a woman!
The play was excellently cast. Ian Saxton played the lead role of Howard with Linda Gay as Penny, his long suffering bit on the side. As usual, an exceptional performance was given by Helen Bezer as Tové, the 'crumpet from Copenhagen'. Her accent was marvelously OTT. She was completely at ease within her very sexy character and dominated the stage with every appearance. Michael Martin also deserves credit for his portrayal of the pleasure seeking Home Secretary and for his excellent comic timing.
Although hugely fun, the play did lack pace at times and seemed to lose its way for a while when the Constable (played by Paul Lay) appeared. At this point the humour seemed to change slightly to more of a Peter Sellers-type comedy. The scene where Howard and the Constable became locked together in a tango looked as though it needed more rehearsal, which was a shame as it could have been absolutely brilliant, especially if they had used more of the stage and actually danced a tango, and the 'Benny Hill' type chase went on for too long.
The stage setting was especially impressive, particularly the way it really looked like a block of flats behind the window, and the attention to detail on the set with matching bed linen and curtains, flowers and knick knacks deserves a mention. There were some great little touches - the feathers and noise of pigeons outside the windows was one of my favourite bits, and the sound effects, hardly audible, of children outside down below on the streets. Even the walk down at the end was well thought out with everyone appearing in their undies and the Home Secretary's misfortune with the opening door - it had me laughing right to the very end.
Unknown
Bexley Chronicle | March 2005
