Far be it from me to accuse the artistic director of Nottingham Playhouse of plagiarism, but Giles Croft's adaptation of Sir Compton Mackenzie's book and film script bears more than the obvious relationship with Paul Godfrey's Mull Theatre version of almost a decade ago.
Where Godfrey staged a radio-studio recording of the story, Croft - who has a track record of adapting Ealing celluloid comedy - reimagines it as a read-through of the film script in the drawing room of the author's Barra home. Some of the funniest moments come from the invention of sound effects and the confusion of actors doubling as more than one character in the same scene, exactly as they would in a performance for the wireless.
The conceit brings with it problems - there are layers of characters playing characters at different removes from "reality" that adds little entertainment but much initial confusion - and rings a bit hollow when folk start descending through trapdoors with crates of bottles as if it is all for the camera.
Croft's justification is that his play is as close to the film as the film is to history (the real-life sinking of the SS Politician), and there is a suggestion of some purpose in the device when the actor playing Sir Compton, "Monty", is portraying the bumptious Captain Mainwaring-ish Home Guard officer Captain Waggett - but whether Croft means this as a comment on the character of the author is never entirely clear.
Either way, it does present a considerable challenge to the company of six, coached by the estimable Carol Ann Crawford in the range of accents they need. They sure deserve a drink at the end of it.
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