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See How They Run by Phillip King
This farce has been done twice by the group. It was reprised, directed by Fay Carter (vale) in August 1997 as well as this production, produced by new director John Worgan in June 1963. A "Pensioners' Preview" night was held on Thursday 27 June, and then two normal performances were given on Friday 28 June and Saturday 29 June 1963. The play is set in 1943 for the original (or shortly after the end of World War II in the rewrite) in the living room of the Vicarage at the fictitious village of Merton-cum-Middlewick (merging various actual village names, such as Merton and Middlewick, both in Oxfordshire, along with the old British usage of 'cum', meaning 'alongside' in the middle of a village name, as in Chorlton-cum-Hardy). In 1955 it was adapted as a film starring Roland Culver. The lead character is Penelope Toop, former actress and now wife of the local vicar, the Rev Lionel Toop. The Toops employ Ida, a Cockney maid. Miss Skillon, a churchgoer of the parish and a scold, arrives on bicycle to gossip with the vicar and to complain about the latest 'outrages' that Penelope has caused. The vicar then leaves for the night, and an old friend of Penelope's, Lance-Corporal Clive Winton, stops by on a quick visit. In order to dodge army regulations, he changes from his uniform into Lionel's second-best suit, complete with a clerical 'dog-collar' in order to see a production of Private Lives (a Noël Coward play in which they had appeared together in their acting days), while pretending to be the visiting vicar Arthur Humphrey who is due to preach the Sunday sermon the next day. Just before they set out, Penelope and Clive re-enact a fight scene from "Private Lives" and accidentally knock Miss Skillon (who has come back unannounced) unconscious. Miss Skillon, wrongly thinking she has seen Lionel fighting with Penelope, gets drunk on a bottle of cooking sherry and Ida hides her in the broom cupboard. Then Lionel, arriving back, is knocked silly by a Russian spy on the run, who takes the vicar's clothes as a disguise. To add to the confusion, both Penelope's uncle, the Bishop of Lax, and the real Humphrey unexpectedly show up early. Chaos quickly ensues, culminating in a cycle of running figures and mistaken identities. In the end, a police sergeant arrives in search of the spy to find four suspects—Lionel, Clive, Humphrey, and the Russian—all dressed as clergy. No one can determine the identity of the spy (or anyone else for that matter), and the Russian is almost free when he is revealed and foiled by the quick work of Clive and Ida. The scene calms down as the sergeant leads the spy away and Humphrey leaves. Miss Skillon emerges from the closet, and she, the Bishop, and Lionel demand an explanation. Penelope and Clive begin to explain in two-part harmony, getting up to the scene from "Private Lives," when Miss Skillon again manages to catch a blow in the face. She falls back into Ida's arms as the curtain falls.
Photo GalleryThe below pictures are thumbnails. To see the full-sized pictures, simply click on the thumbnail images. Thanks to Barry Beggs for contributing some of these items.
There have also been reasonably extensive notes typed up for this show based on the programme. Here they are verbatim: See How They Run (June 1963)A farce by Phillip King - Produced by John WorganThe action takes place in the hall of the Vicarage at Merton-cum-Middlewick - a small village. Act I An afternoon in September Act II The same night Act III A few minutes later Characters (in order of appearance)
See How They Run is built round the old theme of mistaken identity. The masquerading causes many farcical mix-ups. The author, who is responsible for two other plays (Monday Next & Without a Prince) has not missed an opportunity of erecting hurdles right and left for his characters to clear or to crash into. Our Thanks To:-
Tea and Biscuits will be served during the interval (6d)
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