Mat Horne
Eleven of our gang minced off to the fantabulosa Menier Chocolate Factory last night for the much-anticipated revival of that grand old British farce Charley's Aunt, starring the gorgeous Mat Horne (of Catherine Tate Show and Gavin and Stacey fame) and none other than Jane Asher.
We settled into our seats (amongst a conglomeration of keen and chattering drama students - it was reminiscent of a crèche, or maybe Jimmy Savile's pantry), and the show opened well, setting the scene whereby college students Jack (Dominic Tighe) and Charley (Benjamin Askew) - hamming it up as prototypes for David Cameron and Boris Johnson - inveigle their equally cash-strapped colleague Lord Fancourt "Babbs" Babberley into impersonating the eponymous Charley's Aunt, in order to not only "get the girls of their dreams" but also encourage a situation whereby they can get themselves some money out of the deception.
All of which would have been fine - and it was indeed a classy opener - but for the sudden grinding noises and the lack of an appearance of Mr Horne as "the Aunt", which led to an unexpected break in the performance after just half an hour, and then an announcement that "technical difficulties" meant the show was cancelled!
We hid our disappointment well with some gin, but nevertheless it is a shame not to have seen it. There is a scant possibility of rescheduling tickets - but not for all of us, so we have opted for a refund.
Ho hum. Never mind. Here's something jolly to cheer us up instead.
A colleague in work pointed me in the direction of this - Beethoven's Ode To Joy, as you have never heard it before, courtesy of Beaker from The Muppet show!
Some sort of substitute, maybe...
Menier Chocolate Factory
Do you think the grinding noise was his corset not cooperating?
ReplyDeleteWe did wonder if it was going to be a prosthetic aunt... Jx
Deleteit was a shame, and with such a short run I think a refund was the best option …
ReplyDeletex
It showed such promise, too - never mind, eh? Jx
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