Bedside Manners by Derek Benfield
When Ferris reluctantly agrees to look after his sister’s seedy hotel in the country while she is on vacation, he does not foresee the wild comings and goings that are to burst upon him one sunny spring evening.
Roger and Sally arrive for a secret rendezvous, Roger having left his wife Helen at home to care for the goldfish and Sally having left her husband Geoff to dig the garden. However, all does not go as planned when the hotel’s other two guests arrive for their own romantic getaway!
Ferris soon becomes engulfed in a dizzy round of deceit, confusion and bewilderment as he dashes around trying to prevent the inevitable meeting of husbands, wives and lovers in this delightful farce.
Click Here to see pictures from the show
Click Here to read a review of the show (scroll down)
Bedside Manners was performed from Thursday 19th August to Sunday 22nd August 2010 at 7:30pm in The Green Room at The Kenton Theatre, Henley-On-Thames.
Review of Bedside Manners in The Henley Standard -
There were trousers on the floor and wanton women sprawled over the beds; yes, FalconGrange Productions were back in town.
This slick, fast, ultra-professional troupe has already wowed us this year with two fine shows for the fringe, now they've added Derek Benfield's Bedroom Manners to their repertoire - and they've rocked the house again.
The house in question was The Green Room where FalconGrange played to capacity audiences on a four-night run of Benfield's marriage and infidelity farce.
The story: two couples meet in an out-of-the-way Fawlty Towers-like hotel for illicit fun. Everyone is called Smith and they are served by an unwilling and cynical concierge - played beautifully by the peerless Daniel Creasey.
The two women, played by Yvie Magee and Lara Lemon, and their partners, Martin Clark and Chris Lehec, work every possibility - and quite a few improbabilities - from the sometime obvious script. And they do it with such energy that it overrides any predictability.
Yes, during one 20-minute stretch the two men racked up a 100 per cent trouser deficit. And the double entendres and misheard words come thick and fast.
But when played with conviction these things don't matter and we are left with a sense of place, situation and character. Director Redvers Lawson has once more cut and shaped these actors; they throw themselves across beds, from room to room, in and out of bathrooms, with control and passion.
FalconGrange started their Henley appearances two years ago at the first Fringe festival when they played Two. Last year's Fringe saw Abigail's Party, and this year, just two months ago, brought sell-out performances of Teechers and The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch.
Henley has become their spiritual home: Bedside Manners again brought it full houses and they hope to do more in the future. Other professional groups might wonder how Yvie and Dan succeed at a time when getting anyone to the theatre is hard work.
Perhaps it's their level of professionalism - these people are the real deal. How about a residency at the Kenton? They deserve a bigger stage and they can pull a crowd.
Cast -
Ferris - Daniel Creasey
Helen - Yvie Magee
Sally - Lara Lemon
Geoff - Martin Clark
Roger - Chris Lehec
Directed by Redvers Lawson
Lighting & Sound - Joy Iliff