By Katrina Dawn
Lamplight Theatre Company is using Charley’s Aunt, a hilarious British farce, as their premiere production, performed in the Draper Historic Theatre in Draper, Utah. Originally written and set in the late 19th century, Lamplight has taken the classic British farce of Charley’s Aunt into the more contemporary setting of the early 2000’s. The century jump adds a few changes: messengers into flip phones and watches into Walkman’s.
Charley’s Aunt opens with John “Jack” Chesney (Jake Wilkins) trying to compose a text to the woman he loves, Kitty Verdun (Bailey Loveless). Jack wishes to arrange a meeting with Kitty in order to propose. Before Jack can get more than an opening typed, Charley Wykeham (Jeremy Sidewell), Jack’s friend and current roommate, enters the scene in need of help. It turns out Charley has the same problem, he wishes to propose to the woman he loves, Amy Spettigue (Stacy Wilk). However, Charley’s only living relative, whom he has never met, is supposed to arrive at 1 o’clock. Jack sees this as a great excuse to invite the girls over. Charley texts Amy telling her he would like to introduce her to his aunt, as Amy and Kitty are cousins, she is also invited. Before the girls can arrive, Charley’s aunt texts again informing Charley that she won’t be coming to lunch. Luckily, Charley and Jacks’ friend Lord Francourt Babberly (Alex Richey) shows up and he has the costume for an old lady, as he is in a theatrical. Jack and Charley get Babberly to stand in as Charley’s aunt. The only problem, “Charley’s Aunt” ends up with suitors of her… his own.
If an audience member was to enter Charley’s Aunt unaware of the slight setting change, it would soon become obvious. Director Kylee Larsen has done an almost seamless transition of a century. Her costuming of velvet suits and long side pinned bangs only enhances the effect. Loveless uses her costume and individual props, such as sunglasses, to help portray Kitty. It gives Kitty the feel of truly being in her own clothes and not an actress in a costume.
Physical comedy is far from lacking in this production of Charley’s Aunt. The continuous cat and mouse chase of Babberly, playing the aunt, and Stephen Spettigue (Mitch Daley) is hilarious. Richey and Daley play off each other, giving something new to each of their interactions. On the other end, Sidewell and Wilk play an oddly paired couple yet do seem in love. One can’t help but smile in the moment Wilk lays her head on Sidewell’s shoulder in a classic sign of affection.
Jack has the shorter end of the stick with his father, Sir Francis Chesney (Kaelob Berger) being added to the mix, and then being informed of their now less than prosperous state. Nothing seems to go right for Jack. Wilkins shows the frustration of Jack as well as his moments of joy, ingenuity, and affection. Jack’s servant, Brassett (Viktoria Elandsson), not only has to deal with Jack but his friends Charley and Babberly as well. She is often annoyed with the lot of them, rolling her eyes and talking to herself. Yet she seems to get an awful kick out of the predicament the three have gotten themselves into.
In the second act of Charley’s Aunt Donna Lucia D’Alvadorez (Anna Kennedy) Charley’s actual aunt arrives with her niece Ela Delahey (Lexie Macedo). When the two learn that “Charley’s Aunt” has already arrived they play along to watch the whole scheme fall to pieces. Ela is the youngest of the characters, Macedo shows this through her overexaggerated reactions and innocent demeanor. Macedo has kept Donna Lucia D’Alvadorez much closer to her original writing, she plays her part in a proper manner- what one would expect from a millionaire. As the actions of Miss D’Alvaforez and Ela are a bit unexpected, so are those of Sir Chesney. Berger gives life to Chesney. His laidback style and friendly conversations with Jack are different from what might be expected of a father, but they are obviously Chesney.
Seeing Charley’s Aunt is a good time. I, as well as the rest of the audience, laughed our way through. I would encourage others to go support the new and upcoming Lamplight Theatre Company by going to see Charley’s Aunt. I look forward to their next project.
Lamplight Theatre Company presents Charley’s Aunt by Brandon Thomas.
Draper Historic Theatre, 12366 900 E Draper, UT 84020
March 8, 9, 11, 15-16, 18, 22-23, 25, 2019 7:00 PM, matinee March 23 2:00 PM
Tickets: $8-12
Contact: 801-572-4144
Lamplight Theatre Company Facebook Page
Charley’s Aunt Facebook Event
Hello Katrina! First off, thanks so much for reviewing our show of Charley’s Aunt a few weeks ago. I was hoping to contact you to simply ask if you could edit some of the spelling on one of the cast members names during the article and tags? At no fault of your own, our programs were printed with these errors which you undoubtedly pulled the information from. Real quick, “Alex Rickey” should read “Alex Richey”. I ask for this correction mainly just for my own scrap booking purposes and if we ever wanted to use your article to help shed some light on what we’re able to do for future shows. Thanks so much for your time and for enjoying the show with us. Let me know if this is a possibility at all.
We’ll get that fixed.