Take a classic british film comedy, written by an american, living in scotland, married to an englishwoman, then give it to an irishman to adapt for theatre, and you have the recipe for a truly memorable night.
The ladykillers at the playhouse ,scripted by graham linehan of father ted fame, is destined for the west end after its short run here at the liverpool playhouse and we are fortunate indeed.
Just as in the film, professor marcus (played by Peter Capaldi) is a gangster who lodges with an old lady while planning a robbery with five cronies. Their cover story, that they are an amateur string quartet needing peace and quiet backfires, giving the music loving pensioner reasons to constantly interrupt.
Many of the funniest moments hinge around the fact that the inept gangsters cannot remember their own aliases and have poorly rehearsed their “parts” Not so the real actors whose performances were so polished you could have been forgiven for thinking they were in the middle of a long West End run rather than the first week in a Liverpool Theatre.
I often play a little game with myself (no jokes please) a sort of theatrical fantasy football where i try to imagine other actors performing in the play i’ve just seen. In this instance I could not. The cast appeared so well suited to their roles.
Peter capaldi excelled as Professor Marcus (alec guiness in the film) dominating the darker parts as you would expect, with a veneer of humour coating the hint of malice below .
Marcia Warren who plays Mrs Wilberforce is a delight she bears an uncanny resemblance to Katie Johnson the original actress, and of necessity mirrored her part.
Linehan has added a lot more humour , especially in the first half, sharing it out equally ,thereby expanding the roles of some of the lesser characters.
The faux pas from colin rowe as “one round /mr lawson“ a giant ex boxer ,got the most belly laughs Linehan using Mr Rowes panto skills to full effect, his marvelloussly mobile face, deft footwork and beautiful singing voice adding an incongrous hilarity to his final scene .
Ben miller, of Miller and Armstrong, is wonderful as louis a murderous romanian (english his first victim) with an irrational fear of old ladies.
James fleet (hugo in the vicar of dibley) is a shoo-in for the part of major courtney with his nervous demeanour and penchant for womens dresses (courtneys not fleets)
Steven Wight as the cockney spiv harry was a major beneficciary of the extra injection of mirth his character gaining some interesting quirks which added greatly to the play.
One of my many favourite moments was the arrival of Mrs Wilberforces friends and the ensuing stockhausenesque recital which capaldi conducted with insane sincerity (move over petrenko)
The second half darkened in tone to almost match the black humour of the film, the methods of dispatch and disposal being extremely cleverly handled and a tribute to the stage designers. The set was truly impressive and played a large part in the overall enjoyment of the night, with truly magical effects(literally).
It is an exciting time for the playhouse, celebrating 100 years, fostering everywords (everymans budding playwright program) everyman, its sister theatre undergoing a rebirth. Then plays of this calibre and the recent “ resistible rise of arturo ui” rescripted by Liverpool’s own Steven Sharkey the future is certainly looking good.
Terry Carine