Yvonne Arnaud – until 15 August 2026
Reviewed by Heather Chalkley
3***
Clive Francis has made a valiant attempt to adapt this classic Graham Greene novel for the stage. Greene drew on much of his own life experience and the ineptitude of cold war intelligence agencies, during the 50’s and 60’s. Francis captures Greene’s humour, which runs through the piece like Brighton through a stick of rock!
The versatility of the four actors is remarkable and seriously funny all at once. With many quick changes, you can be forgiven for getting slightly confused at times. The first half is stuffed full of dialogue with not enough action to counterbalance.
Jack Ashton plays a simple vacuum cleaner salesman finding himself in Havana, making extra money as a secret service spy. He sends intelligence reports home full of fictional characters and made-up stories. It provides a good living for him and his daughter, who is becoming a young adult. Ashton plays well perturbed disbelief, when the characters begin to come to life! He has accidentally given the names of real people, who are now on the hit list and looking for him. Leon Ockenden, Jodie Steele and Bob Barrett present the caricatures, slipping in out of costume as quickly as they do accents!
Bob Barrett brought the second half alight with his depiction of Teresa, a woman of the night, fully sequined with well placed sparkly stars! Jodie Steele slipped between the upright secretary, the teenage daughter and exotic dancer sometimes on the flip of a coin, with hilarious results! Leon Ockenden fills in the narrative when the pace is in full swing, switching between policeman, cleaner, pimp, plus many others with impressive agility.
The sliding stage sets give you the grounding needed to know where you are and what characters will be in play. It is like watching a paper diorama, in full size! In the same way, the costume gives you a fix on what character is being played. From the first line to the last, you need to pay attention to get the storyline and spot the funnies!