ONE FOR THE POT
**** (out of five)
Festival Theatre, 2 hours, 5 minutes, one intermission. Ends Oct. 11. By Ray Cooney and Tony Hilton. Directed by Chris Abraham.
For all loose-leaf tea drinkers, boiling water and one more spoonful for the teapot is the norm.
In this “One for the Pot” bubbling British farce by Ray Cooney and Tony Hilton, more than one more will serve up a strong brew for those who love the robust flavour of this genre.
After all, it’s been good for us since the herbalist Emperor Shen Wong undoubtedly laughed when he discovered the healing properties of tea as a medicinal remedy in circa 2737 BCE.
Farce provoking laughter has been around since the fifth-century BCE Greek comedies of Aristophanes. The Roman Emperor Tiberius might have been a tad thin-skinned when he banned such comedic levity in 300 BCE. T
The French embraced “une farce” improvisations “stuffed” as jokes into serious medieval religious plays and over 200 survive today from the 14th and 15th century.
The acknowledged master of farce remains the Frenchman Georges Feydeau, whose translated farces, such as “A Flea in Her Ear,” influenced the British tradition of bawdiness combined with complicated plots.
Some may sniff at what they perceive as absurd low comedy for the masses, but farce is meant to amuse, not encourage deep thought. It’s all about action, doors slamming, mistaken identities, characters who must pretend to be who and what they are not, cross-dressing, cross-talking and leaping to erroneous assumptions.
Ray Cooney and Tony Hilton were young actors in the theatre company of the English actor-manager Brian Rix considered to be the British master of farce. Rix’s long-running West End productions at the Whitehall Theatre from 1950 to 1966 included what became known as the Whitehall farces.
Cooney appeared in many of these farces and went on to create his own Theatre of Comedy Company with 17 of his plays performed in the West End. To the French, Cooney is “Le Feydeau Anglais” and many of his plays continue to be revived in Paris.
Cooney laid out his thoughts on farce: The characters must be believable and recognizable. They are ordinary people, out of their depth, in situations and predicaments that are not ordinary and are out of their control.
The plots are more akin to tragedy with much at stake. The actors must have technique, stamina, precision, dexterity and, most importantly, teamwork to pull off the split-second timing required during continuous action.
Farces are performed, not read. The audience is the missing ingredient and the intelligence of that audience is never to be underestimated.
The Shaw’s first production of “One for the Pot” was in 1985 with Heath Lamberts in the starring role of Hickory Wood.
The 2026 production sets the time and mood of 1935 with the opening music of Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to Cheek” written for Fred Astaire in “Top Hat.” The Great Depression was over and audiences were ready for Hollywood romantic screwball comedies and slapstick stage farces.
The curtain rises on the spacious wood-panelled drawing room of a country mansion, well-designed by Michael Gianfrancesco. It remains unchanged through both acts, with multiple doors and original props used to great effect for all the manic hiding, whiskey swilling and dashing in and out physical action.
Patrick Galligan is the wealthy industrialist Jonathan Hardcastle, who suffering from gout and guilt is pushed about in a wheelchair. Galligan attacks the role with a gruff and agitated voice, which varies from working-class Manchester to something else, perhaps more befitting to his raised wealth status?
He is testy and demanding as he wishes to quickly find and give 10,000 British pounds to Billy Hickory Wood, son of his former business partner, who died before profiting from their successful milling operation. The catch is Billy must be the only surviving relative of his father in order to be the beneficiary.
Peter Fernandes as the rather thick Hickory Wood is easily manipulated by his fake solicitor Charlie Barnet, played by Martin Happer. Barnet must devise plots to get the money as other Hickory Woods appear. Jugg, the eavesdropping, duplicitous, always on the take butler, is played by Sanjay Talwar.
All three actors are excellent and the teamwork between them is outstanding.
Fernandes is by turns the Cockney Billy, the refined Estuary Rupert and the Belfast Michael continually tumbling into surprising twists, turns and tangos.
Neil Barclay is Hardcastle’s short-sighted barrister who has the hots for Amy, the easily flustered sister of Hardcastle played ably by Fiona Byrne. Camille Eanga-Selenge as the daughter, Cynthia Hardcastle, is the benign romantic interest of Kelly Wong’s smarmy art dealer. Jade Repeta as Winnie, Billy’s Cockney wife, is too exaggerated and shrill — her lines are often unintelligible.
Chris Abraham’s direction of the ensemble actors, including the maids and party guests, solidifies the action into a satisfying balance. Go and enjoy this pot with a mug who will laugh with you.
Penny-Lynn Cookson is an arts and culture historian, writer and lecturer living in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
