Busybody
Plays for Laughs
The Dixon Studio, Southend on Sea
3-7 November 2015
Plays for Laughs
The Dixon Studio, Southend on Sea
3-7 November 2015
So often we hear actresses of a certain age berating the fact that there aren’t any parts out there for them anymore and that all the best parts seem to go to all the ‘young’ things. I suppose, to an extent, this is true but quite often there are roles that come along that are completely perfect for women of a more, shall we say, mature disposition and Busybody has just that role in the form of Mrs Piper.
Written in 1964 by playwright and former songwriter, Jack Popplewell, Busybody was penned for the late, great, Irene Handl and quickly became one of his most successful plays.
The play is set circa 1964 and the action takes place in the London office of Richard Marshall, where Mrs Piper is the cleaning lady. She lives in the basement of the building with her husband and whilst dutifully dusting the desks one evening, comes across a dead body. However by the time the police arrive at the office, the body has disappeared and the whole thing is chalked up to be all in the char lady’s imagination - that is until an unidentified body is discovered elsewhere in London soon after.
Plays for Laughs have done a great job of creating a production that has been perfectly cast, even down to the smaller roles of Richard and Claire Marshall played by Steve McCartney and Amanda Whiteford alongside the part of Marian Selby played with delightful aloofness by Maggie Hooper.
Melvyn Howell and Eleanor Tomkins-Gregory as the slightly creepy Robert Westerby and the dotty, sex mad secretary, Vickie Reynolds also did well in what was required of them. Director, Janet Tomkins, did a great job of establishing the characterisations of each of her cast's roles and subsequently they all worked really well together.
Detective Constable Goddard, the well spoken police officer, who initially comes along to question Mrs Piper over her discovery, is played by Dave Goodson who gave just enough of what was needed for the part and underplayed the role perfectly in contrast to Kevin Lehane, who seized every opportunity to give Detective Superintendent Baxter all the comedic effect that was required, as he sneezed and sniffed his way through an endearingly funny performance.
Written in 1964 by playwright and former songwriter, Jack Popplewell, Busybody was penned for the late, great, Irene Handl and quickly became one of his most successful plays.
The play is set circa 1964 and the action takes place in the London office of Richard Marshall, where Mrs Piper is the cleaning lady. She lives in the basement of the building with her husband and whilst dutifully dusting the desks one evening, comes across a dead body. However by the time the police arrive at the office, the body has disappeared and the whole thing is chalked up to be all in the char lady’s imagination - that is until an unidentified body is discovered elsewhere in London soon after.
Plays for Laughs have done a great job of creating a production that has been perfectly cast, even down to the smaller roles of Richard and Claire Marshall played by Steve McCartney and Amanda Whiteford alongside the part of Marian Selby played with delightful aloofness by Maggie Hooper.
Melvyn Howell and Eleanor Tomkins-Gregory as the slightly creepy Robert Westerby and the dotty, sex mad secretary, Vickie Reynolds also did well in what was required of them. Director, Janet Tomkins, did a great job of establishing the characterisations of each of her cast's roles and subsequently they all worked really well together.
Detective Constable Goddard, the well spoken police officer, who initially comes along to question Mrs Piper over her discovery, is played by Dave Goodson who gave just enough of what was needed for the part and underplayed the role perfectly in contrast to Kevin Lehane, who seized every opportunity to give Detective Superintendent Baxter all the comedic effect that was required, as he sneezed and sniffed his way through an endearingly funny performance.
Belinda Belt and Kevin Lehane in rehearsal with Steve McCartney in the background Photo: Donna Lehane
He was more than matched by Belinda Belt who took on the leading role of Mrs Piper, full of mispronunciations and malapropisms. True to the title of the play, Mrs Piper makes herself a real nuisance of a busybody, poking her nose into everyone’s business and of course digging out all the underlying clues needed to help solve the crime; much to the Superintendent’s annoyance. Belinda and Kevin played off each other brilliantly and gave the audience plenty of laugh out loud moments with Mrs Piper’s constant usurping of his authority. Mrs Piper is a part that could dangerously fall into an ‘annoying’ category if not played just right but Belinda’s characterisation gave us every reason to want to be fighting her corner and we triumphed with her as she became every inch the detective in her undercover workings out. I really enjoyed watching Belinda as this dottily adorable character.
This is one play that seems to have been able to travel well into 2015; so many plays of this era appear so dated these days but this one really stands the test of time. A big congratulations to Plays for Laughs for this very funny production and also for helping to raise funds for their chosen charity which this year is Essex Air Ambulance.
This is one play that seems to have been able to travel well into 2015; so many plays of this era appear so dated these days but this one really stands the test of time. A big congratulations to Plays for Laughs for this very funny production and also for helping to raise funds for their chosen charity which this year is Essex Air Ambulance.