REVIEW: Don’t Get Your Vicars in a Twist, RAODS, The Plaza, Romsey

This is one of the more comprehensive farce scripts I’ve seen, with some of the funniest one-liners. The unsuspecting, lady vicar (Sarah Reilly) has a weekend away planned, while her entrepreneurial warden, George (Neil Gwynne) has a murder mystery in the vicarage arranged, as a way of funding his daughter’s wedding. His fellow warden, Alan (Leighton Fort) is suitably distressed to find himself dragged into the subterfuge. Actors and guests arrive, including the luvviest director, Dickie (Matthew Ellison) and egos galore. The best for me, were sisters, Mrs Mortimer (Jenni Watson) and Miss Andrews (Meriel Shepherd) who my companion likened to characters from a Wodehouse novel. The entire cast were excellent and kept the momentum set to break-neck. If there were a couple of non-scripted, first-night fumblings, these were covered as aptly as their farcical tracks. The set, costumes and props were splendid, as was the evening.

Rebecca Case