After a sell-out run at the Mullingar Arts Centre two weeks ago, Rail Theatre Company’s production of Move Over Mrs Markham has been scheduled for a re-run next month; suarely the ultimate accolade for any theatrical production!
Directed by Sean Lynch, with assistant director, Eimear Doolin, this racy farce really did have the audiences howling in the aisles, with all the quick quips and saucy situations. It’s a complicated storyline, and a fair amount of concentration is necessary in order to keep up with who’s doing what and to whom! The action takes place in the swish, top-floor London flat owned by affluent children’s books publisher, Phillip Markham, and his wife, Joanna, who has engaged the services of ‘poofie paper-hanger’, interior designer Alastair Spenlow, played by Chris Corroon.
The play opens with Joanna Markham (Niamh O’Shea ) engaged in girly conversation with Linda Lodge (Siobhán Murphy ); their husbands are business partners. Linda - having grown tired of the constant absences of her husband - has decided to spice up her life with a little extra-marital diversion with Walter Pangbourne (Paul McDermott ) and Joanna agrees that Linda can make use of the flat while she and Phillip attend a dinner engagement that night.
Having heard that the Markhams are going out for the evening, Alistair (the apparently not-quite-so-poofie-paper-hanger! ) sets up a date with Sylvie (Katrina Martin ), their sultry Swedish au-pair. Unbeknown to him, however, Linda’s neglectful husband, Henry (John ‘Banjo’ Quinn ) has a little hot action of his own lined up with Felicity Jane Wilkinson, played by Mary Hughes. The scene is set for a classic revolving-door-type evening of hectic hilarity…
Misunderstandings, double-entendres, and deceptions all feature strongly in this rollicking, award-winning farce by renowned playwrights Ray Cooney and John Chapman. The denouement occurs when esteemed writer of doggie books, Miss Olive Harriet Smythe (Valerie Moore ), arrives at the flat announcing her intention to sign a new contract with the publishing company owned by Markham and Lodge, having become disenchanted with her previous publishers who had the temerity to publish a sex manual - the very idea!
This is another fine example of the kind of entertainment we’ve come to expect from Rail Theatre Company, who consistently deliver productions of the highest quality. Don’t be disappointed again; be sure to book your tickets today!
Tickets are available from the box office by calling (044 ) 9347777.
