A Cavalcade of Excitement
‘It was a cold, dark night’ has, I believe, been voted the worst ever opening to a novel, so when Adam Elliott – with a raised eyebrow and a very knowing look – opened Luke Adamson’s Montague’s Millions with those words you knew this was going to be a good spoof of the mystery thriller, writes Michael Holland.
Adam was Dr Henderson and we were quickly introduced to Tice Oakfield, the hard-working docker who had fell on hard times after his daughter became sick and the doctor refused to treat her without payment. His troubles were magnified by his wife being sacked by Lady Penelope Cunningham(Julia Pagett) for stealing.
This Holy Trinity of actors also played the profligate husband who had gambled away the family fortune, the destitute wife who had never stolen a penny in her life; the train guard, the pub drinkers, the farmer whose lorry and sheep they stole, and the tall, dark stranger in the long, dark coat who had visited all three to deliver each of them a letter with instructions to be at Montague Manor in Cornwall at 8am the next morning. He had whispered from the dark shadows formed by his collar and his wide-brimmed hat to ‘tell no one’ and that the letter was ‘for your eyes only’.
Hence, our three protagonists, unaware of each other, dashed off to Paddington Station to catch the sleeper train to Penzance where Barclay Montague’s last will and testament would be read to those who managed to complete the journey.
Now, there has never been a sleeper train sequence in literature or theatre or film that did not include drama and this was going to be no different. So of course there was going to be trouble on the way, starting with each of the three eyeing up the others with suspicion as they raced to get to a share of Mr Montague’s millions. There was even a Dick Bartonesque soundtrack to convey the urgency of the matter!
Just as urgent was the matter of so few props, and a minimal cast to create this cavalcade of excitement. But with an ingenious set(Karl Swinyard) the impossible was made possible with hats, coats, scarves, suitcases and the hilarious moving door, under the clever direction of Kate Bannister who turned these problems into comedy gold. With comic asides and lightning-quick costume changes, never in the field of theatre have three people done so much for so many with so little.
As one, the intrepid trio survived the pitfalls of melodrama as they swayed in time with the train braking suddenly, skied downhill on a large portmanteau, sped away from the scene of a crime in a farm truck and crashed into a hedge, built a boat to cross a lake, with little to help them but their own gusto and willingness to throw everything at this receptive audience. And all while having to trust the others when the sneaky option of leaving them behind might mean more of the millions for themselves.
Montague’s Millions is real festive fun without so much as a single jingle bell.
Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, 410 Brockley Road, London, SE4 2DH until January 4th.
Box office: www.brockleyjack.co.uk or 0333 666 3366 (£1.80 fee for phone bookings only)
Tickets: £17, £15 conc., 10+.
Running time: 90 minutes, with no interval
