Thursday 30th March – Saturday 1st April 2017
Long before The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong in which an amateur dramatic society experiences the horrors of what can go wrong right in front of a live audience, the fictional Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society have been resolutely presenting plays in which the scenery collapses, cues are missed, lines are forgotten and sound effects create illusions the director never imagined.
Boxford Drama Group has previously produced two of the side-splitting Farndales, The Haunted Through Lounge and Recessed Dining Nook at Farndale Castle in 2006 and Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society murder Mystery in 2008, both directed by Jane Lindekam who brings back the Farndale Ladies to Boxford Village Hall with Chase Me Up Farndale Avenue, S’il Vous Plait
by David McGillivray and Walter Zerlin Jr.
This time the Farndale Ladies are attempting a French farce in the style of Boeing Boeing with complicated romantic encounters and no less than four doors for the cast of characters to run in and out of while trying to stick to the complicated script whilst about them props go missing and pieces of the set collapse resulting in an evening of hilarious horrors and cock-ups galore.
Boxford Drama Group presents Chase Me Up Farndale Avenu, S’il Vous Plait at the Boxford Village Hall on 30th, 31st March and 1st April.
BOX RIVER NEWS REVIEW:
Once again, the Boxford Drama Group Ladies turned to the Farndale Avenue series of plays for their Spring production having previously produced two of the side-splitting Farndales, ‘The Haunted Through Lounge’ and ‘Recessed Dining Nook at Farndale Castle’with ‘Chase Me Up Farndale Avenue, S’il Vous Plait,’ which sees the hapless ladies of the Farndale WI attempt a French farce.
As always with the Drama Group, the performers couldn’t be faulted for their enthusiasm and energy, with all the usual plot twists and a small cast of five playing what seems like hundreds of roles, confusion ensued. The tone was set from the start, as the lights failed to go down, the music came in at the wrong time and the set was revealed with doors in the wrong places, and the opening scene being interrupted almost immediately!
What followed was a riot of under-rehearsed farce, with some very well-timed moments of slapstick – one of the highlights for me being the collapsing door, which worked perfectly. By the time I lost track of who was playing whom, the play within a play began to break down as false moustaches and wigs fell off, with a smattering of gags, pratfalls and double entendres. It was a light romp that warmed the cockles like watching a Carry On film on a rainy day.
This was a very challenging play with a small cast but these formidable ladies did it like no one else!
The Farndale drama society (BDG) showed just how much an amateur drama group can get wrong in a two act production. An unintelligible plot, a plethora of doors and a grand range of characters made this Farndale offering as bubbly as a glass of champagne. (sic)…
This was Coralie Marshalls Swan Song.
Coralie has been a loyal member of the Boxford Drama Group for more years than I care to remember and like a true trouper has barely missed a production and accepted everything that was offered, whether comedy. panto or drama, with great enthusiasm. Who can forget her performances in ‘A Fish Out Of Water’ in 1985 and the Importance of Being Earnest staged at The Quay Theatre in 1987 or her hilarious performance as Mrs Overal of Corny Antiques in the Ruby Review. She has performed in numerous productions over the years and will be hard to replace. We wish her all the best and hope to see her in the audiences of future productions.
