Written By
Brandon Thomas
Where and When
29th – 31st March 1990 @ The Allendale Centre, Wimborne
The Plot
Charley and Jack love Amy and Kitty. Amy is about to go away, and Charley thinks he may miss his opportunity to ask for her hand. Then he discovers that his aunt, a Brazilian woman he hardly knows, is coming for lunch. How fortuitous! Now the aunt can chaperone while the boys ask the girls to marry them. Naturally, things don’t go as planned. Donna Lucia, the aunt, is late, and their friend, Lord Fancourt Babberley (Babbs) shows up in drag. He is convinced to pretend to be Donna Lucia, and a wild afternoon of mistaken identity, young love, old love, angry uncles, and one beautiful, exotic aunt ensues. In the end, just as it looks like Uncle Stephen is going to ruin everything, the real Donna Lucia steps in and graciously puts an end to the madness. All the lovers end up together and happy, except for Uncle Stephen, who was starting to fall for Babbs!
Ticket Information
Cast
- Jack Chesney – Tony Feltham
- Brassett – Howard Lovejoy
- Charley Wykeham – Jim Ruegg
- Lord Fancourt Babberley – Martin Lodge
- Kitty Verdun – Carolyn Woodward
- Amy Spettigue – Shirley Ilott
- Colonel Sir Francis Chesney – David Green
- Stephen Spettigue – Simon Jackson
- Donna Lucia D’Alvadore – Pam Feltham
- Ella Delahay – Helen Wood
Creative Team
- Director – Joe Brooks and Jim Ruegg
- Stage Manager – Joyce Eidmans
- ASM – Paul Hewitt
- Lighting – Chris Richards
- Lighting Assistant – Louise Eaton
- Prompt – Jan Stevenson
- Properties – Sheila Morrell
- Scene Painting – Sylvia Fowle, Suzanne Elliot, Louisa Elliot and Clare Miller
- Scene Shifters – Sandra Chapel and Peter Brooks
- Front of House – Daphne Young
- Poster Design – Paul Hewitt Snr.
Previews
Gallery
Reviews
Victorian romp is still a rib tickler
Charley’s Aunt is one of those plays which everyone has heard of but few people have seen. Best described as a Victorian romp, Wimborne Drama Club put on such sparkling performances at the Allendale Centre that the audiencescould not help but be swept along by the fun and games. Written about 100 years ago by Brandon Thomas this is a classic in which the comedy has lost nothing by the passage of timeand changing fashions in entertainment.
Martin Lodge as Lord Fancourt Babberley, looking and acting like the comedian Michael Barrymore, was energetically splendid as was Tony Feltham and Jim Ruegg as JAck Chesney and Charley Wykeham, the two young men with romance on their minds who frolicked through the piece with alacrity,
WIth not one weak link in the cast, special mention must be made to Simon Jackson as Stephen Spettigue. Pamela Feltham was a delightful Donna Lucia D’Alvadorez, and the three young ladies providing the main romantic interest (Carolyn Woodward, Shirley Ilott and Helen Wood) were as pretty as Victorian pictures. David Green was distinguished as Col Sir Francis Chesney, and putting the icing on this cake of pure English comedy was Howard Lovejoy as the manservant Brassett.
The play was co-produced and directed by Arthur Brooks and James Ruegg. Other behind the scenes were Joyve Eidmans (stage manager), Paul Hewitt (assisstant), Chris Richards (lighting), Jan Stevenson (prompt), Sheila Morrell (props, Sylvie Fowle, Suzanne Elliot, Loisa Elliot, Clare Miller, Sandra Chapel and Peter Brooks (scenery), Enid Davies (wardrobe), Daphne Young (front of house) and A Hewitt (poster design).
Programme
