Guild Festival Theatre/Three Men on a Bike, written by Mark Brownell (after the writings of Jerome K. Jerome), directed by Sue Miner, Greek Theatre, Guild Park & Gardens, closes Aug. 4. Tickets here.
Guild Festival Theatre’s production of Mark Brownell’s Three Men on a Bike is the perfect upbeat fare for a summer’s evening. The play is a sequel to last year’s hit, Three Men on a Boat, and returns with the same cast.
Brownell has based his plays on the novels of British humorist-cum-satirist, Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927), who belongs to that light-hearted school of British writers who specialized in dry wit, whimsy and absurdity, such as P.G. Wodehouse, G.K. Chesterton, Evelyn Waugh and Saki.
Jerome’s two most famous novels, Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog, 1889), and Three Men on the Bummel (also known as Three Men on Wheels, 1900) have never been out of print. In fact, the two novels are available in one volume right now on Amazon. Happily, in his plays, Brownell has captured the buoyant spirit of the books that makes them so endearing.
The first novel describes the misadventures of three friends on a trip up the Thames. The second depicts their disastrous bicycle trip through Germany.
What is interesting is that the characters are based on lifelong friendships. Jay (Azeem Nathoo) is Jerome himself, George (Suchiththa Wickremesooriya) is George Wingrave, and Harris (Jack Copland) is Carl Hentschel, which allowed the author to use their real-life foibles, quirks and eccentricities to add to the humour of stories.
Nathoo as Jay carries most of the narration, but at times, I needed him to crank up his projection. The sound at the open-air theatre is captured by a series of microphones in front of the stage, and when the actor is between mikes, his voice level drops. Nonetheless, Nathoo speaks with just the right amount of self-deprecation to underline the silliness of the tale.
Wickremesooriya as George is the most bombastic, but sometimes he slurs his words when he talks at speed. If Jay rarely loses his cool, the energetic George is on hand to lose his. The actor’s portrayal of a German comic singer in mid-play is an absolutely delicious cameo.
Copland as Harris speaks with acute clarity in a performance that is a joy to behold. As a character, Harris seems to be the most obtuse of the three, which makes him all the more entertaining, particularly since he takes himself so seriously.
Director Sue Miner has done a magnificent job in bringing Three Men on a Bike to life through a judicious use of an arch delivery of lines combined with clever physical comedy.
The actors seem to be laughing at themselves, which makes us laugh with them. They also do their own sound effects, which are hilarious. The only two props are a chair and a stool and what Miner does with them is brilliant, as is her imaginative use of the entire stage and its surrounds.
And then there’s the dog Montmorency…
As the friends’ travels become more precarious, the characters cling to their British stiff upper lip-ness, which makes the storytelling even more droll. Their over-acting when they play other characters is in perfect keeping with the farcical nature of the play.
There is also a wonderful use of music by J. Rigzin Tute, particularly the travel theme when the men are on their bicycles. As for Ina Kerklaan’s costumes — the colourful plus fours are nothing short of inspired, as are her other props, such as the German police uniform hats.
All in all, except for some minor hiccups, Three Men on a Bike, is a delightful theatre outing.
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