Spy comedy an acting showcase

Robert Holcroft

04 December 2009

Our Man In Havana
November 16 to November 21
Festival Theatre, Malvern

VACUUM cleaners, men dressed as nuns, ladies of the night, British spies, menacing Cuban officials and the Englishman abroad make for a thoroughly entertaining night in Havana at Malvern Festival Theatre.
Adapted for stage by Clive Francis, Graham Greene’s classic novel, Our Man In Havana, is the tale of a struggling, British vacuum cleaner salesman, who is signed up by the British Secret Service, one evening while occupying a lavatory.
The hapless salesman, Wormold, is daunted by the task ahead so decides to invent his escapades as a spy and begins to make a decent living out of his fictitious spy team and their missions. Things begin to go horribly wrong when the Service sends him assistance in the form of Beatrice, the officious secretary.
Wormold has to devise new stories to placate his inquisitive colleague. Events soon take an unexpected turn when the fictional characters become real - with deadly consequences.
Knowing the basic storyline will help in this immensely wordy play.
Overall, Francis has overcomplicated what could be a brilliantly simple script.
The stroke of genius was in getting Richard Baron to direct, who recently directed the tour of The 39 Steps, a theatrical spoof of the novel by John Bucan.
The staging was innovative, physical and had great pace. The only issue was the incredible amount of auditory and visual information that needed to be consumed by the audience was almost impossible.
The large cast is played by only four actors.
Simon Shepherd plays the linen suited Wormold and Philip Franks, Norman Pace and Beth Cordingly played all of the other characters.
All four performers were simply amazing.
The speed of some character and costume changes was unbelievable and the high energy of performance was consistent throughout the entire two and a half hour run.
The lines were delivered with gusto and vocal perfection. This is a wonderful example of quality character acting.
Special mention has to be made of the creative team. Ken Harrison’s set design was brilliant in its simplicity and adaptability.
The lighting design, by Matthew Eagland, was superb and evoked the relentless heat and often suffocating humidity of this Caribbean island and Ian Horrocks-Taylor’s sounds encapsulated the passion of Cuba and added to the performances perfectly.
This is an incredible showcase of talent for the four actors who unfalteringly take the opportunity to show their immense capability to perform beyond what they are known for within their already established careers.
Robert Holcroft

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