Tons of Money

Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds

This classic Alan Ayckbourn farce bears all his hallmarks of twists and turns, bluff and double bluff. There is quite an array of characters (eccentric, maybe).

There is Miss Mullett, the not-so-deaf aunt who you could think of as an old maid, the butler Spurles, devious to say the least, and a rather droll gardener, Giles, a man of few words but impeccable timing for the absurd. And don't forget the sly solicitor, Chesterman.

The key players were Aubrey and Louise, whose main aim was to reduce their horrendous debts; it was a case of whatever it takes. And of course all the best-laid plans were doomed for failure.

For a farce to work well you need a good-size audience. Unfortunately, this was not the case, so the cast had to work doubly hard to get results.

There was a treasure chest of funny material in the script. It was a classic case of deception becoming more complicated than the instigators could handle. So, when the real George turns up, the farce goes into top gear. S

Ray Dyer, who was due to direct this farce, died very recently. So, in a way, it was a tribute to him from the Irving Stage Company.