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On Your
Honour by
Roger Leach and Colin Wakefield
The Play
On Your Honour is a comedy with a farcical flavour,
featuring a group
of lawyers away for an important weekend conference. Hugo Barnes
desperately
wants to be a High Court Judge and has organised the conference to
impress the
new Lord Chancellor, Lord Lumsden-Clark, who still has considerable
influence
when it comes to judicial appointments. Nick Willmott (who also happens
to be
the Lord Chancellor’s son-in-law) has invited a young solicitors’
secretary
along for the weekend. This decision threatens Nick’s marriage, Hugo’s
plans
for a trouble-free conference, and both their reputations.
Misunderstandings,
narrow escapes and attempted sexual infidelity combine with an unusual
undercurrent
of family reconciliation and personal discovery. |
Alister
Cameron & Philip Childs
Photographer: Gemma
Mount
|

Edward Fulton & Stan Pretty
Photographer: Gemma
Mount
|
Cast (3F, 5M)
NICK
WILLMOTT Q.C.
HUGO BARNES Q.C.
HILARY WILLMOTT,
Nick’s wife
LIZ LUMSDEN CLARK,
a Circuit Judge, Hilary’s sister
SIR HARRY
LUMSDEN-CLARK, the new Lord Chancellor
GERALD BLUNT,
a civil servant
TONI TAYLOR,
a solicitors’ secretary
CHRISTIAN, a
student
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(51)
(51)
(42)
(44)
(66)
(25)
(20)
(19)
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Set:
A luxury hotel bedroom.
Time: One Saturday
afternoon and evening. The present.

Luciana Lawlor & Greg Gillespie
Photographer: Gemma
Mount
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Production Information

Alister
Cameron & Leda Hodgson
Photographer: Gemma
Mount
|
ON
YOUR HONOUR
by Roger Leach
and Colin Wakefield
The
play was produced at the Jermyn Street Theatre, London,
from 11th to 29th September 2007
Directed
by Colin Wakefield
Designed
by Colin Mayes
Lighting
and Sound by Luci
|
Philip
Childs
Photographer: Gemma
Mount
|
Company
Stage
Manager Peter Adshead
Assistant Stage
Manager Ryan Burkwood
Production Associate Barbara Kirby
Press
and PR Presstitution www.presstitution.com
Production
Photography Gemma Mount
Scenic Construction Paul Griffin and
Michael Porter
Leaflet
and Poster Design Robin Kirwan
07971 709229
Programmes
and Print Management MJ Assocs Limited
020 8290 4999
Website Design by Gary Roskell
www.garyroskell.co.uk
Produced
by Double Honours Productions in association with Theatre Maketa.
For the Jermyn Street
Theatre:
Penny Horner Administrator
Justin Emerys Smith
Technical Manager
www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk
020 7287 2875 (Box Office)
020 7434 1443 (Admin) |

Stan
Pretty & Greg Gillespie
Photographer: Gemma
Mount
|


Biographies
ALISTER
CAMERON
'Hugo'

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Alister has appeared in many West End
productions including THE
REAL THING at The Strand Theatre; HOUSE GUEST at The Savoy;
THE
LAST OF MRS CHEYNEY, The Cambridge; ROLLSHYPHENROYCE, The
Shaftesbury; THE DAME OF SARK, The Duke of York’s; NO SEX
PLEASE
WE’RE BRITISH, The Strand; VOLPONE, The Garrick and THE
WATCHED
POT at The Mermaid. He has appeared in many productions around the
country
such as ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA (Antony); RELATIVELY SPEAKING
(Philip); EDUCATING RITA (Frank); PACK OF LIES; TEN TIMES
TABLE;
ABSURD PERSON SINGULAR; HAVING A BALL; THE WINSLOW BOY; HOW THE OTHER
HALF
LOVES; THE TAMING OF THE SHREW; and this year KING OF HEARTS
at
Hampstead. He has appeared in many national tours including BENEFACTORS;
HENCEFORWARD; THE FIRST MRS FRASER; SEE HOW THEY RUN and HOUSE
GUEST.
Radio 4 series have included THE WHITE PEACOCK; PERSUASION and
SENSE
AND SENSIBILITY. Alister’s films include THE EMPIRE STRIKES
BACK;
SOLITAIRE FOR TWO; ANXIETY; the yet to be screened THE BOURNE
ULTIMATUM;
TINCTURE OF VERVAIN; IF I’M SPARED and CHURCHILL AT WAR.
His
television credits include, for the BBC, DOCTORS; WORDS OF LOVE;
STARLINGS;
LONG VOYAGE OUT OF WAR; WHOM GOD HATH JOINED; THE IMITATION GAME;
EASTENDERS;
THE HARRY ENFIELD SHOW and BETWEEN THE LINES; and for ITV, THE
LONG WAY HOME; POIROT, EMMERDALE FARM; PAUL MERTON – THE SERIES; DROP
THE DEAD
DONKEY; LONDON’S BURNING and THE BILL. Alister runs his own
company,
Richmond Productions, which he founded in 1993 to tour British theatre
to the
Middle and Far East, Eastern Europe
and the Sub-Continent.
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PHILIP
CHILDS
'Nick'

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Philip trained at the Bristol
Old Vic
Theatre School.
Theatre work includes Lloyd
Dallas in NOISES OFF (Milford Haven): Serge in ART (tour
of Gulf States); Jimmy
Grimes in MARVIN GAYE – THE MUSICAL
written and directed by Kid Creole; Paul Burns in OH! WHAT A NIGHT!
(UK
& European Tour); Romeo in ROMEO AND JULIET (Oldham);
Lenny in HAVING
A BALL (Cheltenham); Bottom in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
and Sir
Toby Belch in TWELFTH NIGHT (Canizaro Park, Wimbledon); Bernard
in DON’T
DRESS FOR DINNER (Northampton); Vincent Minelli in JUDY
(Bristol Old
Vic, Greenwich & West End); Antonio in THE TEMPEST (Oxford
Stage
Company); KILLING FOR COMPANY – a one-man play about the
mass-murderer
Dennis Nilsen (Hen & Chickens); Sgt. Match in WHAT THE BUTLER
SAW
and Christopher Riley in SHADOWLANDS (Coventry); Phil Spear in
THE
BALLROOM (Attic, Wimbledon); Snoopy in YOU’RE A GOOD MAN
CHARLIE BROWN
(Overground, Kingston). He also appeared in THE HIRED MAN, CASABLANCA
and ARTURO UI (all West End) and THE
TAMING OF
THE SHREW (RSC). Television includes EASTENDERS, DREAM TEAM,
BERNARD’S
WATCH, THE BILL, WOOF, BACKUP, OUT OF SIGHT, INTO THE FIRE, 2 POINT 4
CHILDREN,
CRACKER, PEAK PRACTICE, WAITING FOR GOD, A DARK ADAPTED EYE, MINDER,
INSPECTOR
MORSE, SOPHIA AND CONSTANCE, MILE HIGH, MURDER CITY, CLAPHAM JUNCTION
.
Film work includes VERA DRAKE, directed by Mike Leigh. He is
supported
by his wife Maggie and their four children Tom, Jack, Cassy and Martha.
He in
turn supports Stoke City Football Club.
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EDWARD
FULTON
'Gerald'

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Edward trained at the Webber
Douglas Academy
in London, where he
enjoyed lead
roles in POPCORN and HOUSE. Since graduating he has
played
Stanhope on numerous occasions during a 10-month tour of David
Grindley's
production of JOURNEY’S END and recently played the lead in LITTLE
EYOLF at the Riverside Studios. Other credits include NO ONE
SEES THE
VIDEO at the Teatro Technis and SOMETHING NATURAL BUT VERY
CHILDISH at
the Hen & Chickens. He has appeared in Alison Jackson's TONY
BLAIR, ROCK
STAR for Channel 4 and the feature film ARE YOU READY FOR LOVE?
with
Lucy Punch. Other notable performances include Stephano in THE
TEMPEST
and Blackmouth in LIVE LIKE PIGS.
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GREG
GILLESPIE 'Christian'

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Greg Gillespie is a graduate of the
Webber Douglas Academy
of Dramatic Art in London.
While at
Webber Douglas, Greg played such parts as Arthur Gower in TRELAWNY
OF THE
WELLS, Gayev in Anton Chekhov’s THE CHERRY ORCHARD and Jake
Mace in
Alan Ayckbourn’s HOUSE at the Chanticleer Theatre in South
Kensington. Greg made his professional début in the
leading role
of Dick in the musical DAMES AT SEA for Jill Freud and Company
at the
Southwold and Aldeburgh Theatres in Suffolk and then went on to play
the leading
role in Roy Hudd’s pantomine DICK WHITTINGTON at the
Riverfront Theatre
in South Wales. Greg has also played Jack Chesney in CHARLEY’S AUNT
and
Alex in OUTSIDE EDGE for Southwold Summer Theatre and reprised
his role
in DICK WHITTINGTON last year in Truro.
Greg’s film credits include the part of Archie McDonald in MIND THE
GAP.
Prior to studying acting, Greg trained for nine years as a competitive
Ballroom
and Latin American dancer, competing at both National and International
levels.
Greg is a former world representative for England
at Ballroom and Latin American dancing and a former member of the
British
International Competitive Team.
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LEDA
HODGSON
'Liz'

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Trained at LAMDA. Most recent work:
Sophie in TALKING,
TALKING HEADS and Susan in BED AMONG THE LENTILS (Both dir:
Nick
Kidd) at Copake Theatre NY.
These productions have also been performed in the Theatre Truck at Edinburgh,
Brighton and Corsham Festivals, at
Trinity Theatre
Tunbridge Wells, and in Bahrain
– all for Theatre Maketa. Previous work for Double Honours Productions
at
Jermyn Street Theatre: Sue in AUDIENCE WITH MURDER (Dir: Colin
Wakefield). Theatre: For Theatre Maketa, Leda has appeared as Bet, with
Martin
Barrass as Al, in APRIL IN PARIS
(Dir: Iain Rogerson) in Bahrain
and at the May Fair Theatre London. She has worked in Rep theatres in
Exeter,
Chester, Liverpool, Derby, Oldham, Cheltenham, Harrogate, Birmingham,
and
Worcester – favourite production, MAN OF THE MOMENT (Dir: Peter
Fieldson), in which she played Trudy Parkes. Other work includes: THE TERRIBLE
VOICE OF SATAN (Dir: James MacDonald), WORKER’S WRIGHTS (Dir: Dawn
Walton)
and BACKPAY (Dir: Mary Peate) at the Royal
Court. For Cheek by Jowl, Miss Flute in A
MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and Bellinda in THE MAN OF MODE
(Both dir:
Declan Donnellan). For Hull Truck, SHAKERS and CUT AND
DRIED (Dir:
Danny Hiller), and a season at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre (Dir:
David
Conville). TV: HAMISH MACBETH. PERFECT WORLD. INSPECTOR LINLEY
INVESTIGATES.
BADDIEL’S SYNDROME. FAMILY AFFAIRS. THE PLAY’S THE THING. Radio: LONG
TIME MAN.
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CIANA
LAWLOR
'Toni'

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Luciana studied Drama (BA Hons) at Exeter
University
before completing her
training at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. At University she played
roles
such as Amy in AMY’S VIEW and the title role in her final
production of PHAEDRE.
At Mountview she enjoyed roles such as Rosalind in AS YOU LIKE IT,
Charlotta in THE CHERRY ORCHARD and Mercy in ASK FOR THE
MOON
(New Players Theatre). Since graduating, Luciana has done voiceover
work for
BBC Radio and appeared in an in-house production for ITV. Luciana will
be
making her professional West End début
in ON YOUR
HONOUR.
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STAN
PRETTY
'Sir Harry'

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Stan has appeared with the Royal
Shakespeare Company (ROMEO
AND JULIET, RICHARD II, MACBETH, THE BALCONY, as well as THE
ROVER
with Jeremy Irons at the Mermaid Theatre), in the West End,
at the Royal Court
(THE
SHALLOW END with Nigel Terry and Jane Asher) and in theatres
throughout the British Isles over many years.
He
has toured in
productions in Australia
(’ALLO ’ALLO), Germany
(BAREFOOT IN THE PARK), France (WOLF LULLABY), the United
States and Ireland
(BURBAGE AND THE BARD) and in Ray Cooney’s farce THERE GOES
THE BRIDE
at Vienna’s English
Theatre. He has
appeared in numerous Christmas productions including Colin Wakefield
and Kate
Edgar’s ALADDIN and CINDERELLA, both at Salisbury
Playhouse, and
as Badger in Alan Bennett’s adaptation of THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS
at the
Bristol Old Vic. He has also appeared in pantomime in Barnstaple
with Jeff Holland (ALADDIN), and in Chipping Norton (SINBAD
AND THE
DIAMOND PRINCESS and MOTHER GOOSE). His film appearances
include LEON
THE PIG FARMER, JENNY’S WAR and GREAT MOMENTS IN AVIATION
and on
television BERGERAC, MINDER, BOON and DEMPSEY AND MAKEPEACE
among
others. Stan is also an experienced voice-over artist, broadcaster and
prolific
audiobook reader, including most recently Peter Carey’s award-winning THEFT:
A LOVE STORY for Clipper Audio and THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS
for
AudiBooksForFree.com. With Jonathan Milton he formed a small-scale
touring
company and together they have written, directed and played in three
plays
about Shakespeare. In recent years Stan has devised and directed four
large-scale community plays in his home town of Amersham
for which he was awarded an MBE.
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JANET
RAWSON
'Hilary'

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Janet Rawson trained at Manchester
Polytechnic School of
Theatre. Her stage credits have included: Viola in TWELFTH NIGHT
for the
Bubble Theatre, Juliet in ROMEO AND JULIET for the Cheung-Ying
Theatre
Company based in Hong Kong, and Bianca in THE
TAMING
OF THE SHREW for the Liverpool Everyman. Comedy roles are her
absolute
favourite and she has played Maureen in STAGS AND HENS at the
Queen’s
Theatre, Hornchurch, and Jane in ABSURD PERSON SINGULAR and
Kate in BEDROOM
FARCE for The English Speaking Theatre, Frankfurt.
She has also played her namesake Janet in THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW
at The
Swan Theatre, Worcester. Janet has also been fortunate to play in four
pantomimes at Salisbury Playhouse written by Colin Wakefield and Kate
Edgar:
The Goose Fairy in MOTHER GOOSE, The Time Fairy in SLEEPING
BEAUTY,
the Ugly Sister, Donna, in CINDERELLA and Constable Leek in JACK
AND
THE BEANSTALK. Television credits include: Louise in CORONATION
STREET, Polly in BROOKSIDE,
Archangel Doreen in DEAD ERNEST, and Fran in WHALE MUSIC,
but one
of her most enjoyable roles had to be that of the valium-popping, Tia
Maria-swigging Hilary Nutt in RESIDENTS, penned by the
brilliant Tony
Basgalop. Janet was also a regular children’s presenter for LET’S
PRETEND.
Janet is also a writer and four of her plays have been produced to
date: THRILLING,
THE LONESHES, 2049AD and MOPSY, FLOPSY AND DEATH. She is
very proud
of being one of the three founder members of Steps Drama Learning
Development,
the leading drama based training company in the UK.
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ROGER LEACH
Writer
 |
Roger was born in
Australia and read English at Sydney University before training as an
actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. He worked in
England for the rest of his life, and was probably best known as Sgt.
Penny in THE BILL, the
long-running TV police series, a part he played for six years. He was
also a highly successful stage actor, whose leading roles included
Lambert Le Roux in PRAVDA,
Scrooge in A CHRISTMAS CAROL,
Subtle in THE ALCHEMIST and
Bluntschli in ARMS AND THE MAN.
He also starred in musicals, including Peachum in THE THREEPENNY OPERA and Doolittle
in MY FAIR LADY. For 18 years
he toured with actor and musician Michael Lunts in a two-man show of
their own devising called QUIRKISH
DELIGHT. With Colin Wakefield he wrote two stage comedies – DOUBLE OR TWIN and ON YOUR HONOUR, as well as the
thriller AUDIENCE WITH MURDER.
All three of these plays have been translated into German by Raymund
Stahl, with ON YOUR HONOUR
(EHRENWORT) receiving its successful première in
Innsbruck in November 2003. The plays are also published in Holland. In
addition to his stage work, Roger wrote for TV, including episodes of THE BILL, EASTENDERS and MOON AND SON. He died in December
2001. |
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COLIN
WAKEFIELD
Writer and Director

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Colin was a law
lecturer before training as an actor at the Webber Douglas
Academy. He now divides his time between acting, writing and directing.
Acting roles include Victor in PRIVATE
LIVES, Lloyd in NOISES OFF,
the title role in THE MIKADO
and Judge Turpin in Stephen Sondheim’s SWEENEY TODD at the Trafalgar
Studios and the New Ambassadors. He played Bottom in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM for the
award-winning company Cheek by Jowl, in a production which toured to
four continents. TV and film include RELATIVE
STRANGERS, THE RECTOR’S WIFE, VANITY FAIR, STATE OF PLAY and
Peter Knox QC in the Sky TV reconstruction of the HUTTON INQUIRY. Directing includes TABLE MANNERS, BUILDING BLOCKS and BAREFOOT IN THE PARK (all for Jill
Freud and Company), THE LESSON, THE
DIARY OF A MADMAN and THE
MADNESS (Tennyson’s MAUD)
– a one-man show for Kenneth Branagh, and four pantomimes at Salisbury
Playhouse. As well as writing three plays with Roger Leach he has
written a new thriller with David Gillespie called SLEEP NO MORE, recently translated
into Dutch and German. With composer Kate Edgar he has written eight
traditional pantomimes for Salisbury Playhouse, and three
actor/musician family musicals for Winchester Theatre Royal produced by
Ian Liston’s Hiss and Boo Company. Nine of these titles are published
by Josef Weinberger Plays. Kate and Colin have also written three
musicals commissioned and performed by schools and youth groups,
including an environmental piece for up to 300 students called WITCHWOOD. Colin has written a
one-woman show for Pauline Gray called My Dear Howey, based on the
letters of the first Countess Spencer of Althorp. This was performed in
the Theatre Truck at the Brighton Festival in May 2006 and at the
Southwold Summer Theatre in August 2007. He is currently writing a
30,000-line History of England in verse. He formed Double Honours
Productions in 2005.
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COLIN
MAYES
Designer |
Colin trained with
the Royal Shakespeare Company, creating designs for the inaugural
season of The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon. Theatre credits range
from drama, opera and musicals to dance and cabaret shows, both here
and abroad. Recent opera productions include DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE and ALBERT HERRING, both for the New
National Theatre, Tokyo; THE RING
CYCLE for Covent Garden Festival and the world première
of CRY OF INNOCENCE for Gye
Nyame, Greenwich Festival. Recent theatre includes THE WILD PARTY, Electric Theatre,
Guildford; the British première of SIDESHOW at the Yvonne Arnaud,
currently being re-mounted in Houston, Texas; LADY DAY at Emmerson’s Bar &
Grill, Hampstead and West End. Colin is delighted to return to Double
Honours Productions and the Jermyn Street Theatre after last year’s
successful production of AUDIENCE
WITH MURDER. Alongside his designing career, Colin is also an
established actor and commissioned playwright. |
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NICK
KIDD
Director:
Theatre Maketa |
Nick’s interest in
Theatre began in the Bear Pit Society at Alleyn’s School, Dulwich,
where he won the school prize. His first job was a spotlight operator
at Lewisham Concert Hall. He was then a stage hand on several West End
shows before moving into Stage Management. After many years working in
small-scale touring he became company manager and lighting designer for
Cheek by Jowl. During this time the company won two Olivier Awards and
toured extensively in the UK, Europe, Asia and South America. He is
also a writer: his first play was an adaptation of THE DAUGHTER OF TIME and his first
original work, D.Q.BLUES, was
followed by THE BALANCE and TALKING, TALKING HEADS. As director
of Theatre Maketa he designed and built Theatre Truck, a 30-seat mobile
theatre, which has won awards at the Edinburgh and Brighton Festivals |
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PETER
ADSHEAD
Company Stage Manager
|
Peter initially studied at
Manchester University (BA Theatre Studies & English). Following
this he trained at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester and
embarked on a successful career in Stage & Company Management. He
subsequently trained as an actor with The Actors Company. Roles have
included, amongst many others, Willy Carson in Edward Bond’s THE SEA, Malateste in Webster’s THE DUCHESS OF MALFI in the West
End, Yepihodov in THE CHERRY ORCHARD
and Karsten Bernick in Ibsen’s THE
PILLARS OF SOCIETY.
As a director he has worked on productions of THE CHERRY
ORCHARD and THE RIVALS. He works regularly for
The Hiss and Boo Company (Company Stage Manager) and Drama Centre
London (Production Manager) and has just completed a season working for
Jill Freud and Company at Southwold and Aldburgh (Production
Co-ordinator). He is Artistic Director of Hollow Crown Productions, a
company he formed in partnership with ex-RSC actor Andrew Jarvis, and
has a number of projects in development for production in 2008. Peter
is a member of the Theatrical Management Association.
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RYAN
BURKWOOD
Assistant Stage Manager
|
Although acting is Ryan’s
main pursuit he has always had a keen interest in backstage work,
having stage managed the Chingford Festival (an event that attracts
around 4,000 people a year) on a number of occasions. Ryan also
regularly works with T.I.E. companies, becoming the youngest ever
Production Supervisor with one of them at
18. Ryan is currently studying Acting at Drama Centre London (BA Hons),
and is about to enter his second year of training.
|
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BARBARA
KIRBY
Production Associate
|
For several years
Barbara was the Producer of the Edinburgh Festival “Pick of the
“Fringe” shows, which showcase theatre, music and comedy acts in a
different live show every day. She has also worked as the Production
Assistant on corporate theatre and promotional films. As an actress,
she appeared last year as Violet Bradman at the Savoy Theatre in a
six-month run of BLITHE SPIRIT.
Other recent theatre work includes Susan in Alan Ayckbourn’s WOMAN IN MIND at the Octagon
Theatre, Bolton, for which she received a nomination as Best Actress
for the Manchester Evening News Awards. She has played five other
aggrieved Ayckbourn wives, including a tour of THE NORMAN CONQESTS, where she
first worked with Colin Wakefield. She toured with the English Touring
Theatre in Ibsen’s JOHN GABRIEL
BORKMAN and with the Oxford Stage Company in THE CIRCLE. Her favourite roles
during numerous repertory seasons include Mrs. Malaprop in THE RIVALS, Hermia in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, the
title role in THE COUNTRY WIFE,
Christine in THE MAINTENANCE MAN,
Maria in TWELFTH NIGHT and
Judith Bliss in HAY FEVER. TV
work includes the latest series of THE
LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN, THE
REMORSEFUL DAY (the final episode of INSPECTOR MORSE), COR BLIMEY, BODILY HARM, DIRTY TRICKS,
a headmistress in EASTENDERS and
several episodes of THE BILL.
|



Luciana Lawlor
Photographer: Gemma
Mount
|
Reviews
In these troubled times what joy it is to
find a brand new and extremely funny bedroom farce played with panache
and perfect timing by a spirited company.
The setting is the
honeymoon suite of a five-star Birmingham hotel, with a king-size water
bed centre stage and four well-placed doors, robust enough to withstand
the comings and goings of the cast as well as the rigours of touring
that will surely follow this well-received launch.
Alister Cameron’s prudish
bachelor Hugo and Philip Childs’s married Nick are rival QCs with
adjoining rooms, attending a weekend gathering of lawyers.
Hugo is desperate to
impress the homophobic Lord Chancellor (Stan Pretty) who has the say-so
about the next High Court Judge. But Nick plans to bed his eager young
secretary Toni, played with wit and glamour by lissom Luciana Lawlor in
eye-catching boudoir fashions.
Reputations are at stake
when Nick’s spendthrift wife Hilary turns up unexpectedly, quickly
followed by her spinster sister Liz who secretly dotes on Hugo, plus
Greg Gillespie making an impressive West End debut as the knowing room
service clerk in search of his long-lost parents.
Trousers drop, doors slam,
champagne corks pop and the backstage staff produce endless plates of
smoked-salmon sandwiches to fuel a plot that defies simple explanation.
THE
STAGE (John Thaxter)
|
Given that working in the legal
profession might occasionally seem to be a farce, any lawyer is likely
to find it a pleasant change to view that farce from the outside. That
change would be ‘On Your Honour’, a quaintly ‘normal’ piece of comedy
theatre running for just three weeks at the Jermyn Street Theatre in
London.
With
a small cast that nonetheless virtually overruns the tiny stage when
everyone is on at the close, ‘On Your Honour’ is a diverting and
well-paced farce, featuring a judgeship-hunting QC’s hidden family,
unrequited love, a near-miss of an affair, and the power-mad rantings
of a randy Lord Chancellor.
Only one of these elements
was
personally recognisable to the Gazette, but the combination of
trousers-down comedy with a healthy dose of liberal moralising –
homophobia is bad, affairs are naughty, women should be allowed to have
children and a career – made for an amusing hour and a half in the
company of that oft-maligned beast, the Great British Farce.
For an opening night, no
cues were
obviously missed, timing for laughs was generally on the money, and
though generally one need not care greatly about farce characters, ‘On
Your Honour’ manages to pull on a few heartstrings as well. The
confusion so essential to farce is executed well, with the audience
trotting along happily guessing each twist just before it unfurls.
Every cast member
gives a good
account, but the triangle of leading man Philip Childs, who plays the
failed philanderer Nick Willmott QC, Luciana Lawlor, his potential
paramour, and Janet Rawson as Nick’s wife is a good one. Stan Pretty,
who plays the Lord Chancellor Sir Harry Lumsden-Clark, is dutifully
lecherous and has the rubber face to match Sir Harry’s alternate angry
and amorous moods.
‘On Your Honour’ is
written by ex-law
lecturer Colin Wakefield and Roger Leach, recognisable for playing
Sergeant Penny in ‘The Bill’ in the 1980s and 1990s. Mr Wakefield
admitted to the Gazette that he had never practised as a solicitor, but
his pokes at the interminable nature of legal conferences, the
stuffiness of barristers and a Lord Chancellor who self-righteously
yells ‘clean up the bar!’ while ogling girls half his age shows his
guesswork is good enough to pass muster. Well worth a ticket if you are
in town with a night to spare this month.
LAW
SOCIETY GAZETTE (Rupert White)
|

Alister
Cameron
Photographer: Gemma
Mount
|
It’s good to laugh. Certainly it was
yesterday… I’m two flats down. And two grand. As flat number two has
only just fallen through I’m licking my (rather expensive) wounds and
trying hard to raise a glimmer of a smile.
So ON YOUR HONOUR was a
bit of a
godsend last night… There was a packed house for the opening at the
incredibly cosy Jermyn Street Theatre – it seats no more than 100 and
we sat so close to the stage we might as well have been on it. Set
entirely in a hotel bedroom… [the play] is fantastically well acted,
tightly directed and provides that rarest of opportunities these days –
a chance to laugh out loud.
ALLABOUTYOU
(Bernadette Fallon –
Editor)
On Your Honour was first
produced in its German
translation (EHRENWORT) at the Kellertheater, Innsbruck, in 2004. (Please note new
German title: ENGLISCHE PERÜCKEN)
Brilliant
world première of the comedy On Your Honour…
Tears, slamming of doors, little lies and boxed ears – until all that
remains is the truth, and nothing but the truth: an astonishing and
terrific climax… A smash-hit comedy.
KRONENZEITUNG |
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