Tons Of Money
a farce by Evans & Valentine
adapted by Alan Ayckbourn
Directed by David Constable
May 2007
Thursday 17th at 7.45pm
Friday 18th at 7.45pm
Saturday 19th at 7.45pm
The full programme [79K pdf] for this production is available from the archive
There are some pictures on Tons Of Money gallery page
Aubrey Henry Maitland Allington is an unsuccessful inventor who lives in a large home in the country. Unfortunately he has a list of debts longer than his name. Much needed financial relief arrives in the form of a life interest in a large inheritance. Aubrey’s excitement at this stroke of good luck is quickly quashed when he realises that his creditors will certainly snatch up all of his newly acquired fortune before he can lay his hands on it. Aubrey’s wife, Louise, comes up with an ingenious scheme involving him faking his own death and reappearing as his long lost cousin George Maitland to claim all the cash. However complications with wives and impostors force them to take drastic steps. Chaos and confusion ensues.
This 1920s Aldwych Farce was revised by Alan Ayckbourn in 1986 for a production at the National Theatre.
Setting
Aubrey Henry Maitland Allington's house at Marlow
Act 1
Morning
Act 2
Three weeks later - afternoon
Act 3
The next day - late afternoon
| Cast | |
| Sprules, a butler | Stewart Shrank |
| Simpson, a parlourmaid | Tina Alexandrou |
| Miss Benita Mullett | Judith Shrank |
| Louise Allington | Camilla Hawkins |
| Aubrey Henry Maitland Allington | Michael Reece |
| Giles, a gardener | Mike Sparks |
| James Chesterman, a solicitor | Alan Jobson |
| Jean Everard | Jo Micallef |
| Henery | Ian Antony-Paul |
| George Maitland | Spencer Clayton |
| Production Team | |
| Director | David Constable |
| Prompt | Sally Martin |
| Costume | Jenny Sparks |
| Lighting | Martin Higgins |
| Andy Higgins | |
| Stage Management | Kirsty Lincoln |
| Michael Lamb | |
| Props | Katherine Hayes |
| Set Design & Construction | David Constable |
| Mike Sparks | |
| Front of House Manager | Paul Sparks |
| Box Office | Betty Burgess |
| Programme & Publicty | David Constable |
Review
The Archer, East Finchley's community newspaper, printed a review on page 10 of the July 2007 issue.
Tons of money
by Daphne Chamberlain
Wife: "Who do we owe money to?"
Husband: "Everyone we've ever dealt with."
Wife's response to this is to fake husband's death, bringing him back as a long-lost relative who would inherit the money that has just been left to them, but without any obligation to pay off debtors.
Naturally, as this all happens at the beginning of Tons of Money, the Guild Players' most recent production, we know there are more complications ahead. Two other men claim to be the long-lost relative, and his real widow "recognises" the impostors but humours the genuine one as a harmless lunatic.
This 1920s Aldwych farce, revised by Alan Ayckbourn for the National Theatre, demands that the audience suspend all disbelief. Even when one character after another seems, in the words of one of them, to have "the brain of a very, very small potted shrimp".
Some of the biggest laughs came from the out-and-out slapstick scenes. The acting was excellent but perhaps the play could have been taken at a slightly faster pace.
The Guild Players vary productions to suit all tastes, and welcome feedback from their audiences. They perform in Finchley Methodist Church Hall, Ballards Lane, N3.
