Rookery Nook **** TNT

Tuesday 19 May 2009

Things can be pretty miserable in these credit crunch times, but Ben Travers’ 1926 farce is such pure old-fashioned fantasy that it will make you forget your worries for much of its slightly overstretched 2 hours + running time.

The plot is paper thin, so most of the pleasure comes from watching newlywed Gerald Popkiss and his cad of a cousin Clive trying to out-manoeuvre his sister in-law (Sarah Woodward’s grimly disapproving Gertrude Twine) when a nubile young neighbour seeks refuge from her German stepfather - in her pyjamas.

There isn’t a shred of credibility in the whole affair, but the cast gives it all they’ve got and their efforts pay off - with Lynda Baron’s huffy mountain of a housekeeper distinctly unimpressed by the snooty new arrivals at the country cottage and Mark Hadfield nervously munching his hat as Gertrude’s apology of a husband, Harold. Best of all are Neil Stuke’s flustered man about town Gerald (who ends up with a golf club stuck down his trouser leg whilst trying to resist his attraction to the uninvited, scantily clad guest) and South African actor Edward Baker-Duly’s playboy Clive (as English as cucumber sandwiches and as slippery as an upper-class snake when it comes to a dalliance with a pretty young girl).

Ridiculously silly it may be – and very much a period piece - but, once again, it looks as though this enterprising venue has a hit on its hands.

Menier Chocolate Factory , 53 Southwark Street, SE1 1RU ( 020 7907 7060) tube London Bridge. Until 20th June