Take a bunch of crooks, a daring heist, a seemingly innocent little old lady to thwart their plans and set the action in a higgledy-piggledy house a stone’s throw from King’s Cross Station and you have the makings of a great thriller.
But anyone who remembers the 1955 Ealing comedy, The Ladykillers (with an all star cast of Peter Sellers, Alec Guinness, Herbert Lom, Cecil Parker and Danny Green)will know that this is one crime caper that is laugh out loud funny from start to finish.
It comes with its own complications when the production moves to the stage. How do you show a daring security van robbery and high speed car chase?
But the first night audience at Milton Keynes Theatre on Wednesday will agree that the solutions found by award-winning set designer Michael Taylor are ingenious and innovative.
How things have changed since the ‘50s. In those halcyon days policemen actually walked the beat and had the time to share a cup of tea with the residents on their patch. Can you believe it?
We meet the wonderfully scatty Mrs Wilberforce as she tries to report a suspicious incident to the local bobby. In the past she has claimed aliens have landed, now it’s Nazis running the corner shop. By the end of the show she’s trying to explain that she’s harboured a gang of villains but, of course, he doesn’t believe a word of it.
The old dear rents out her spare room to Professor Marcus and his band of musicians, unaware that they are actually a criminal gang intent on carrying out a daring £200,000 robbery.
But what a group they are. One is a smooth-talking conman who likes dressing up in frocks (Clive Mantle’s Major Courtney); another pops pills and lifts valuables (Will Troughton); a third is all brawn and no brain (Chris McCalphy doing Bernard Bresslaw as One-Round ); a fourth a violent Romanian with a fear of old ladies (EastEnders’ Cliff Parisi); and the mastermind “professor” himself (Paul Bown).
They almost pull it off too, until their plan comes unstuck and Mrs W discovers their true identities.
It’s completely dotty and utterly charming with the lovely Michele Dotrice stealing the show as the OAP.
Is this the same Michele, I hear you ask, who won the hearts of a nation as the long-suffering Betty to Michael Crawford’s accident prone Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do ‘Ave Em? It is. Do you know that TV classic first appeared 40 years ago? Where has the time gone?
Her voice is pure Hyacinth Bucket (without the snobbery) and she shuffles about like a little Edwardian widow at odds with modern-day life. Dotrice is so tiny that her stooped 5ft 2ins frame is dwarfed next to the towering Mantle (more than 6ft 5ins). At one point One-Round (6ft 4ins ) almost smothers her in a bear hug. She is so cute. An archetypal little old lady (though, it has to be said, that she looks great for her age).
This is a very black comedy. A show filled with mass murder, violence and mayhem but I defy you not to laugh throughout. It’s one of the funniest and most original plays to appear for a long time. Why can’t other producers do the same?
Some theatres are struggling to attract audiences through the door (although MKT seems to be bucking the trend) because they are offering the same, tired, shows that tour the circuit year after year.
The Ladykillers may be based on a vintage film but writer Graham Linehan has done a fantastic job adapting it for the stage while director Sean Foley has come up with a classic comedy for the modern era. Add Taylor’s simply superbly animated set and you have a smash hit. It would be a crime to miss it.
The Ladykillers runs until Saturday. For tickets call the box office 0844 871 7652 or visit www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes