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750,000 pounds in 50 pound notes

Bread and Circus Theatre Company opened this past Friday with Ray Cooney’s bawdy and very British Funny Money, directed by Manny Flowers. The cast is led by Howard Carpenter and Jessica Russell, who play Henry A. Perkins and his wife, Jean, a couple who has accidentally found themselves with a grand fortune. The true hilarity starts when Henry reveals to Jean that the money isn’t really his.

Don’t be thrown by the obvious age difference between Carpenter and Russell; they do a wonderful job together as the Perkins couple, working well off each other and the rest of the cast. Audience members will be delighted by Carpenter’s animated facial expressions and gestures throughout the show, always sharing Henry Perkins’ true emotion. Russell does a splendid job as Jean Perkins, who becomes more jumpy and hysterical with each turn of events.

This reviewer was pleased with the supporting cast, each playing their roles and continuing the farcical humor with every line and action. Mony Carpenter and Keith Maloney add several doses of humor and mishaps to the story as Betty and Vic Johnson, who come to celebrate Henry’s birthday and, instead, find themselves thrown into the money mix-up and hysterical happenings. The plot continues with the separate entrances of Detective Sergeants Cecil Davenport (Ralph Butts) and Reginald Slater (Dwight Shumway), both trying to get to the bottom of their own investigations. Butts does a great job as the jokester Davenport, getting his own share of laughs from the audiences. Shumway’s exaggerated accent and facial expressions positively add to Slater’s no nonsense and quickly exasperated personality. Another role that is sure to render laughs is Bill, the quick-witted Taxi Driver, portrayed by Aynn Kilburger Titchenal, who obviously isn’t afraid of a little gender-bending. The last character to emerge onstage is the long anticipated Mister Big. Though his time onstage is short-lived, Albert Vest’s Big does well striking fear into the other characters and adding the final plot twist to the production.

The production takes place within and around the Perkins household in present day London suburbs. Action centers mainly in the living room of the Perkins household, which is simply furnished. One might be a bit surprised to find that the walls of this set aren’t typical theatre flats, but long sections of patterned fabric. Also surprising, especially for a farce, is the lack of actual doors, a move intentionally made by Flowers and Set Designer Mimi Ferrari-Ninde. This aspect of the set may give off a slightly funky, cartoonish vibe, but certainly doesn’t detract from the goings-on of the production, though some movement (blocked or not) and set pieces do create for several moments of up-staging and uncomfortable positioning for the actors during the show.

Other than the few moments of upstaging, this reviewer only found one other minor drawback within this production: inconsistent accents. Slightly inconsistent British accents are not an uncommon problem with community theatre, and certain lines were a bit incoherent or garbled in attempts to do the accents. Fortunately, these are not major problems and are overshadowed by the fine acting and the hilarious script. Running just over two hours, FUNNY MONEY proves to be a truly great production of which all BCTCo members should be proud.

If you missed opening weekend, you are in luck! Funny Money continues on June 26th, and 27th at 8 PM, in the all-new Harmony Artistic Center, 3979 Parkway Lane, in Hilliard.

Tickets are $12 for Adults and $10 for students. For more information, call 614-470-4895, or check out www.bctco.org.

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Tahrea Maynard has spent the majority of her life onstage, appearing on stages with such Central Ohio theatres as Roundtown Players and Rosebriar Shakespeare Co. She also teaches Musical Theatre classes with the Charmion Performing Arts Center in Circleville.  Check out her blogs here and here.