Charley's Aunt

Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas
Directed by Jocelyn McQuaid.
Performances: Thursday July 24– Saturday August 2 2003

Charley's aunt from Brazil (where the nuts come from) has been extremely good to her nephew Charles Wykeham, putting him through school and university. When she telegraphs to say she is coming to Oxford to take luncheon with him Charley is delighted, as it means he and his friend Jack Chesney can also ask two young ladies, with whom they are in love, to luncheon. Charley's aunt will be a perfect chaperone.

But Charley's aunt fails to arrive on time. Another undergraduate friend, "Babs" (Lord Fancourt Babberly) is coerced into becoming "Charley's aunt" in the costume he will use later in a college rag.

Needless to say, all sorts of impossible situations arise from the masquerade – from girlish confessions to protestations of love. Happily all is resolved when the real "Charley's aunt" arrives and everyone (well, almost everyone) lives happily ever after.

The play, set in 1892, is an excellent example of a Victorian farce.

Performances at The Little Theatre, Recreation Drive, Birkenhead - Thursday 24 July to Saturday 2 August, 8pm nightly and 4pm on Sunday, 27 July (no performances on Monday or Tuesday).

Tickets are $15 ($12 concession).

Ela Delahay (Elizabeth Waite), Kitty Verdun (Samantha Hawnt), Amy Spettigue (Hannah Ellis) and Donna Lucia d'Alvadorez (Colleen Sexton)

The cast (back row): Garry Jenkin, Jordan King, Peter Robertson Millar, Chris Chambers, Greydon Little, Nigel Flockhart. (front row): Colleen Sexton, Elizabeth Waite, Hannah Ellis, Samantha Hawnt.

Jack and Charley persuade Babberly to go along with their plan	Planning is vital, think Jack and Charley

Sir Francis Chesney attempts to woo "Charley's Aunt"

Mairangi Players, PO Box 34-455, Birkenhead, North Shore, Auckland

TheatreWorks, Recreation Drive, Birkenhead, North Shore

Phone our theatre on 09-419-0415