Loads of dosh in comedy plot

Funny Money, Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton

Comedy timing, lively characters and a briefcase stuffed with £1.5 million set the stage for a rousing romp of a production at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre.

When mild-mannered, wimpish accountant Henry Perkins, on the way home to his birthday roast chicken dinner, mistakenly picks up somebody else’s briefcase, he discovers it contains £1.5 million which he decides to keep and emigrate to Barcelona.

This is the starting point for a Ray Cooney farce that has a plot which becomes more convoluted and hilarious as more characters get involved in his scheme.

The success of farce depends on pace and timing. Perhaps last night’s opening was a little slow in the initial stages, but some extremely funny business with a mistaken door brought the production very much to life, and with a cast as talented and experienced as this, the delivery of the lines was quite outstanding.

David Callister as Henry, Harriet Usher as his inebriated wife Jean, Robert Duncan, as Davenport, and John Altman - best known as Nasty Nick from EastEnders - as straight policeman Slater make the most of the play’s humorous possibilities.

Robert Duncan, left, is pictured with John Altman. Funny Money runs until Saturday.

Review by Jerald Smith