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Wodehouse in Wonderland

26th January 2023 - 28th January 2023

 

Cahoots theatre Company presents William Humble’s play based on the life and writings of P. G. Wodehouse, with songs by Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Ivor Novello.

Wodehouse in Wonderland takes place in P.G. Wodehouse’s New York State home in the 1950s. Plum, as he is known to family and friends, is working away at the latest adventures of Bertie Wooster but is interrupted by a young would-be biographer, his adored wife and daughter Snorkles and his two pekingese. He shares stories about how Jeeves entered his life, how he became addicted to American soap operas and why he wrote books that were ‘like musical comedies without music’. He sings songs composed by Broadway legends with lyrics written by himself, and entertains the audience with characters such as Bertie Wooster, Jeeves, Lord Emsworth, Gussie Fink-Nottle and the squashily romantic Madeline Bassett. But there’s also a darker story beneath the fun.

Robert Daws is well known for his work in television including leading roles in Jeeves and Wooster, John Sullivan’s Roger Roger and Rock and Chips, the British Comedy Award Winning, Outside Edge, Casualty, Midsomer Murders, Death in Paradise, Poldark, Sick Note, Father Brown, Agatha Raisin and eight series of The Royal. He appeared in Malvern in Blackbird (2008) and more recently in Alan Ayckbourn’s plays How The Other Half Loves and Ten Times Table.

The play is performed by arrangement with the Wodehouse Estate.

Details

Start:
26th January 2023
End:
28th January 2023
Event Categories:
,

Venue

Festival Theatre
Grange Road
Malvern, WR14 3HB

Other

Price:
£33.04, £29.68, £26.32, £22.96 & £19.60
Members Discounts Apply
£2 concessions (Over 60s /Unwaged
Under 26s £8.96
Price includes 12% booking fee
Show Times:
Thursday 26th to Saturday 28th January '23[Nl]Evenings at 7.30pm

Event Reviews

  • Stephen

    Some good acting and a thoughtful script but why on earth did the company think that recorded synth backing tracks were appropriate (or acceptable)? This show could be a real hit if it had live accompaniment- one live pianist or banjo player would make all the difference. Disappointed.

  • Helen McWilliams - Entertainment Views Blog

    Robert Daws is, by my own admission, one of my all time favourite actors. Both on stage and screen he offers a resoundingly solid and steady presence and yet has the ability to surprise you with the extent of his talent. In this stunning one-hander, written by William Humble, Daws showcases every ounce of the performance credibility I associate him with and then takes it up a notch further, just when you think you’ve seen it all. His comic timing takes some beating and the subtlety with which he shifts dynamics in a scene is clever. As a self-confessed fan, I am ashamed to admit I had no idea he possessed such a strong singing voice and his vocal talents, together with his extraordinary gift for story-telling, combine to make the perfect piece of theatre.

    Directed by Robin Hereford with orchestration by Colin Cattle and a sensational set designed by Lee Newby, Wodehouse In Wonderland offers a window into the world of the popular author, P.G. Wodehouse. I’m familiar with the work of Wodehouse, however I wasn’t fully aware of his own personal story.

    What’s intricate and engaging in Humble’s writing is the journey it takes you on. On the face of it you’re getting a snapshot into Wodehouse’s life; his comfortable home, love for his Pekingese dogs and immense adoration for his mostly present wife and absent daughter. However, Wodehouse’s interaction with a gentleman; Mr Phillips (who irritates him greatly and wants to write his autobiography) opens up the tragedy in the writer’s life. We get a flavour of his childhood and the absence of his parents. The ultimately disastrous broadcasts he made for German radio during the war are also raked over and its easy to empathise with him and his naivety at that time.

    Robert Daws teases out so many sides of Wodehouse’s character, pacing around the stage with vigour as he puts across the passion Wodehouse has for his work and stopping to consider his affection for Leonora, the daughter he adopted and whom he refers to as Snooks and an assortment of variations of the pet-name. The story-telling is peppered with pauses for off-stage dialogue from his wife, or the dogs demanding a walk. There is a cornucopia of props which are all made good use of and the set invites you in, it’s welcoming and picture perfect.

    The songs, which Robert Daws casually put in a request to have in the play (according to William Humble) add an extra dimension to an already beautifully multi-layered piece. Daws’ vocals are quite something and the musical interludes are well placed.

    I can’t recommend Wodehouse in Wonderland highly enough, if you know his story you’re bound to enjoy the way in which your prior knowledge is portrayed. If your knowledge base is a blank canvas, this is the best way to learn about the hugely talented and significant man. I can’t think of anyone better than Robert Daws to take on such a prolific ‘role’ it was an extraordinary evening at the theatre.

  • Pete Phillips - View From the Stalls

    Humorous and sad - the story of the popular creator of Jeeves and Wooster

    Drama in Malvern for 2023 gets off to an excellent start this week with not only a show about P G Wodehouse, but a world première, no less. "Wodehouse In Wonderland" stars the equally excellent Robert Daws in what is effectively a one man show about the author.

    More commonly known by his initials than his name (P is for Pelham (shortened to Plum) and G is Grenville), Wodehouse's younger years were spent being looked after by his many aunts, seeing his parents who were working abroad just a couple of times over more than a decade. We know this because one of the people that Wodehouse speaks to on stage is the biographer, a certain Mr Phillips, who is more interested in the salacious parts of his life (of which there are few, if any). Mr Phillips is one of a few unseen characters, the others being his wife Bunny (actually Ethel) and his daughter Snorkles (actually Leonora).

    It is Leonora who is referred to first, by way of a letter which he is writing to her, after doing his dozen morning exercises, watching American soap operas and being exasperated at his wife's grandiose plans for their current house. His wife, who he adores, and his dogs (who he adores rather less - yappy Pekinese, so fair enough!) are all fed and watered whilst Mr Phillips eschews any kind of refreshment as he takes down details of Wodehouse's life.

    There are, of course, other characters in Wodehouse's life, specifically Jeeves and Wooster. They may be just characters in his books but he refers to them and others as if they are old friends who have inexplicably wandered into his life. Along the way, there were various songs to lighten the mood with lyrics written either by himself or other Broadway luminaries.

    Whilst the first half is relatively jolly, the second half takes a decided turn to the dark side as the biographer wants to know about the "black" times. This refers to the extended period when Wodehouse was ostracised by the British as a result of some radio broadcasts which he had done. Internment during WW2 was followed by a series of radio broadcasts made in Germany for CBS in America. These humorous anecdotes entitled "How to be an Internee Without Previous Training" were then re-broadcast by the Germans to the UK. They did not go down well at all and he was "reviled ... as a traitor, collaborator, Nazi propagandist, and a coward". Some of his contemporaries actively disowned him whilst others were far more supportive. Also in this part is some devastating news imparted by Malcom Muggeridge which would have a massive impact on his life.

    You certainly don't need to know about Wodehouse's work to enjoy this show, although there are various references to and indeed short readings from the books. He was an accomplished writer and wordsmith who created some of the phrases we use even today, almost 50 years after his death. These include "cuppa", though in his context it referred to coffee rather than tea! For one man on stage to hold the audience's attention for an entire play about the author is no mean feat but on the evidence of this very first performance, the show, written by William Humble and directed by Robin Hereford, will have a very successful run with Daws at the helm.

  • Alison Brinkworth - Birmingham Mail

    Based on the life of the author behind the iconic Jeeves and Wooster, I was expecting Wodehouse in Wonderland in Malvern to be a laugh-a-minute farce in the vein of his famous books. I couldn't have been more wrong.

    This new play's UK tour premiered at the small, but renowned, Malvern Theatres in Worcestershire last night, January 26, where it stays until Saturday, January 28. That's the closest it comes to Birmingham, skirting the city with shows in Shrewsbury and Coventry.

    Taking on the huge role of iconic P.G Wodehouse is Emily Atack's uncle, Robert Daws. He's a well-known face for many a TV role from BBC's Casualty and Poldark to Midsomer Murders and I must admit, I hadn't realised his acting depths until this performance.

    READ MORE: Behind-the-scenes at Birmingham Royal Ballet's costume department where The Nutcracker came to life

    Hours before the show's opening, he'd been tweeting in praise of his "brave and eloquent niece Emily". Daws saying "she speaks here for so many" after the Inbetweeners star opened up about receiving a constant barage of explicit social media messages for BBC documentary Asking For It?

    There was similar poignance on stage as Daws turned his hand to the bittersweet life of Wodehouse. Despite the frivolity and light touch of his creations, we see how the acclaimed British author's life was tarnished during World War Two and touched by tragedy and difficulties from an early age.

    The set is a grand recreation of Wodehouse's study at his American mansion, where he lived after the Second World War and died, never having returned to the UK. It's exact even down to the glamorous cocktail bar in the corner.

    As a one-hander, Daws has his work cut out. Not just with the wordy script but also performing a variety of music hall type songs partly penned by Wodehouse. Not all suit his voice, but there's the welcome cheeriness of Cole Porter's Anything Goes and You're The Top.

    What an impressive Daws does is command attention throughout the two-hour show. If he's not singing, he's recreating conversations with a biographer and his family - beloved daughter 'Snorkles' and wife Bunny, whose voice is briefly heard off-stage.

    While the opening act starts light and breezy there's the menace of something darker to come. It's laying the groundwork for an emotional finale, while adding a splattering of many in-jokes for not just Jeeves and Wooster fans but literary lovers of Chekhov, Dostoevsky and the like.

    Daws really comes into his own when reading from Wodehouse's novel about the Empress of Blandings pig escapades, recreating an array of characters' voices.

    Despite that, Act One seems too long for having just one actor on stage as the pace slows. The second act is where it packs an emotional punch and all the seeds laid before the interval suddenly make sense.

    This fascinating, well-researched play, written by Daws' friend William Humble, delves into new depths that leave a lump in the throat. So much so that, when Wodehouse's character pleads with the audience 'wouldn't life be better if people were kind to each other?', someone in the front row yelled out an emphatic 'yes!'. That's also a message that harks back to Daws' niece, Emily.

    Daws is astonishing and gives an exceptional performance. Wodehouse in Wonderland is a play that truly resonates.

  • John Philpott - Showtime!

    WRITER William Humble takes us on a guided tour of the author’s mind, down corridors both brightly and dimly lit.

    The P G Woodhouse many people revere is the jolly good chap who made his name basically recycling the same old gag time and again. This centres around the absurd, trivial and meaningless relationship between the upper class Bertie Wooster and his long-suffering ‘gentleman’s gentleman’ Jeeves.

    It’s never been clear to me why so many of us become so besides themselves with glee at the monotone squeaks of a superannuated posh guy and the sonorous drone of his vassal, but there you are. No accounting for taste.

    So. That’s the bright area of the aforesaid corridor, a familiar route with no dark nooks or crannies to explore.

    Now to the dimly-lit section, which concern’s Wodehouse’s shameless collaboration with the Germans in 1940. Living in Paris, he’s been interned by the invaders after the lightning blitzkrieg of that year, and carted off to a prison camp in Silesia.

    It’s not long before his captors realise what a brilliant propaganda job good old ‘Plum’ can do for them, and so he obligingly makes five radio broadcasts, first to neutral America, and then to bomb-blasted Britain.

    This is at the time that his native country stands alone against the Nazis and could be invaded at any moment.

    After the war, Wodehouse becomes persona non grata, which is why he ends up living in America. And there he festers, bitter at his treatment by the British.

    Renowned actor Robert Daws is our Wodehouse for the evening, and he powerfully conveys the lingering resentments of the spurned writer, unable to understand how he could have been treated so shabbily. I say old chap, we all make mistakes, don’t we?

    Wodehouse’s narcissism and naivety takes your breath away, all of which are superbly conveyed by Daws. Mind you, one can’t help thinking that he should have been very thankful that he hadn’t been tried for treason, taken up to Tower Hill, and faced a firing squad.

    Daws never falters for one moment in his vibrant portrayal, veering from aristo-worshipping dilettante one moment, to moody, spoiled schoolboy the next. His mastery of Wodehouse’s butterfly mood swings is astounding – at times you really feel as if you’re in the subject’s home in Long Island, meekly listening as the great man talks at you.

    No play about Wodehouse would be complete without extensive references to the era in which his characters are set, the Jazz Age of the 1920 and 30s. And rather like Wooster, his musical taste seemingly limited to the most vacuous, silliest and frothiest tunes of that period.

    Perhaps it’s my lapsed Protestant zeitgeist, but I’ve never understood the attraction of viewing even the fictionalised glorification of individuals who contribute absolutely nothing to society.

    Nevertheless, judging by the audience at this Malvern Theatres world premiere, there are plenty of folks who do, and cling to Wodehouse’s every word.

    And whatever one’s thoughts on the matter, this one-man play has all the reassuring kick of the day’s first Martini cocktail, with Robert Daws bringing to life one of the last century’s greatest cultural icons.

    Directed by Robin Herford, it is well worth seeing… regardless of whether or not the Wodehouse story tickles your cultural taste buds.

  • Sue Hull - What's on Live

    Wodehouse In Wonderland isn’t actor Robert Daws’ first foray into the wonderful world of writer & humorist PG Wodehouse. In the hit 1990s television series about the author’s two most famous creations, Jeeves And Wooster - in which Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie played the title characters - Robert took the recurring supporting role of Tuppy Glossop.

    Now he’s starring as Wodehouse himself, in a brand-new solo show paying homage to one of the most successful English authors of the 20th century.

    Taking place in the 1950s at Wodehouse’s New York State home, the play finds the Surrey-born novelist engaged with the task of writing the latest adventures of Bertie Wooster. His endeavours are interrupted by the arrival of a would-be biographer, and it isn’t long before the author is waxing lyrical about his love of American soap operas, how he created the character of Jeeves, and why he writes books “like musical comedies without music”.

    Throughout the show, the excellent Daws entertains the audience with interpretations of some of Wodehouse’s best-loved creations. He brings to life not only Jeeves and Wooster but numerous other exquisitely funny and extrovert characters, among them Lord Emsworth, Gussie Fink-Nottle and Madeline Bassett.

    Music and songs composed by Broadway legends Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Ivor Novello also make their mark. Impressively executed by Daws - who’s no slouch in the singing stakes - they play a significant and memorable role in an evening of truly delightful entertainment that readily calls to mind a more innocent era.

    A prolific writer (he published 90-plus books, 40 plays and 200 short stories), Wodehouse experienced both profound tragedy - the death of his beloved daughter - and outrageous injustice - he found himself being unfairly branded a traitor in the Second World War and threatened with prosecution. But despite his woes, he neither bore grudges nor displayed anger, instead choosing to believe in the power of kindness. A quiet and, in certain ways, a naive man, it’s easy to imagine that his legacy - the universe of comic characters he created - would’ve made him happy indeed.

    At turns engaging, funny, poignant and sad, Wodehouse In Wonderland is a fitting and thoroughly enjoyable tribute to a writer whose work continues to provide pleasure for millions of avid readers across the world.


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