Directors go onstage for new comedy double bill

(JB) Two leading Luxembourg amateur dramatic groups have teamed up to present a comedy double bill with a directorial twist.

The two plays: Husbands Supplied and Fifty! Will not only be directed by Tony Kingston and Bjorn Clasen, respectively, the two are also to act in each other's plays.

“It was a fun idea that he acts in mine and I act in his (play). It's not the first time I've been onstage but the first time I've acted under a different director. I've had to understudy roles under my own directorship...I wouldn't consider myself the great actor which is why I direct,” Tony Kingston told wort.lu.

The latter play, by Archie Wilson, is a classic British farce, centred around a surprise fiftieth birthday party organised for David. What his family do not realise, however, is that David is having an affair.

When he shows up at the unexpected party with his half-naked mistress, all hell breaks loose. “You can see where the train crash is coming,” said Tony, who plays the irritating neighbour character.

Fifty! is produced by the NWTC with a 12-strong cast as the second comedy in the double bill, after Husbands Supplied, produced by BGT.

Husbands Supplied

Written by Falkland L Carey, this play was originally published in 1939, though you would not know it from its content, Tony explained.

“My first instinct was, this play is going to be creaky and it's not going to be very good. When I read it, it was incredibly modern,” he said, adding: “The jokes are quite 20th century. There's no shying away from sex, which again we weren't expecting to find in a play written in 1938. That really struck me. I thought this is a funny play.”

Husbands Supplied is set in a world of role reversals in an agency that helps single women find a husband. The action takes place in the agency itself on a busy Tuesday morning where a solitary man, played by Bjorn Clasen, turns up and is overwhelmed by the fierce interest from women.

Tony road-tested the play with a school group. He said: “I thought the acid test would be if teenagers today find it funny. And they all did. If they are finding it funny, it's modern enough to pass the test.”

Aside from the humour and play length, which sat nicely within double bill, the director was drawn to the fact it has seven female roles, making it a good gender-balanced fit for the typical casts available in Luxembourg.

“This is the perennial problem I have right the way down the line. I would say there's something like 8-1 balance on the available number of women and men. It always influences my decisions to select plays,” he said.

Watch the double bill

The comedy double bill will be performed at the Forum Theatre, Campus Geesseknaeppchen, 40 Bd Piere Dupong, Luxembourg City, from October 14 to 17 at 8pm. To reserve tickets, call 356339 or email tickets@nwtc.lu

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