See How They Run – February 2010

Written by: Philip King
Directed by: Richard Clarke
Dates: February 16th – 20th, matinee on Saturday 20th, 2010

Synopsis:

The play is set in 1943 in the living room of the Vicarage at the fictitious village of Merton-cum-Middlewick.

Here we meet Penelope Toop, former actress and now wife of the local
vicar, the Reverend Lionel Toop and their maid, Ida. Miss Skillon a
churchgoer of the parish, arrives to complain about the latest ‘outrage’
that Penelope has caused. The vicar then leaves for the evening, and an
old friend of Penelope’s, Lance-Corporal Clive Winton, stops by for a
quick visit. Penelope persuades Clive to see a production of “Private
Lives”, a Noël Coward play in which they had appeared together in their
acting days.

The vicar returns home, where he is taken prisoner by a German
prisoner-of-war who has escaped from a nearby camp. To add to the
confusion, the Reverend Humphrey, as well as Penelope’s uncle, the
Bishop of Lax, unexpectedly show up. Chaos quickly ensues, culminating
in a cycle of running figures, most of them dressed as clergymen.

Characters