Definitely Funny
At a matinée of Funny Money at the Mill at Sonning Theatre (which runs till November). A Ray Cooney farce is not intellectually demanding fare – but we have had perhaps a plethora of intellectually demanding moments of late. If well played, and this was, it is simply (at times) chokingly funny.
Led (and well led) by Steven Pinder as the harassed householder and Natasha Gray as his long-suffering wife the ensemble cast (even at a relatively poorly attended Sunday matinée) sparkled. The importance, of course, in farce is to play it heightened but straight – the fourth wall must stand unbreached – and with a pace which allows disbelief to remain suspended – we are not talking naturalistic plots here.
Considering the (tiny) size of the stage, and the closeness of the actors to the audience this is difficult to maintain.
The Mill is lucky in attracting actors of good quality – who have enviable CVs in the business, and directors and set designers who can cope with the limited size of the stage they have to inhabit. Despite the horrendous queues to cross the single track bridge to access the theatre, well worth the trip out of London.