Comedy at its best

By Tahnee Hopman

From the décor in the house to the refreshments organised by Mrs. Kerwood, everything was set to be perfect… or so he thought. Poor, unsuspecting Tom Kerwood. He never bargained for his two brothers, Dick and Harry, for whom, politely speaking, there was no excuse.

In other words, what was to befall Tom Kerwood was more or less the perfect unfolding of Murphy's Law – if something has to go wrong, it will. Of course, Dick and Harry did everything in the best of intentions. This is precisely why, (in their opinion) the ingenious plan was hatched to lower the value of Tom's house, thus enabling him to buy it and finally securing his, chances of being pronounced a worthy foster parent. Ray and Michael Cooney's hilarious Tom Dick and Harry will unfold once again, at the Lionel Wendt on May 30, directed by Jehan Bastians and Neidra Williams.

For the cast, it has been an awesome ride from start till finish – "a lot of fun, but definitely not all fun and games," as Jehan recalls. "When we first dabbled in theatre, we had no idea we would go as far as to produce our own dramas," recalls Neidra, who with Jehan formed the Silent Hands Group somewhere around 1999. They have had a great deal of success so far, producing a series of comedies which never failed to entertain.

"One of our biggest challenges," Jehan explains, "was to find a cast that fit in naturally with the characters they had to portray," adds Neidra jokingly, "it was also a challenge to get certain actors to remember their words!" Despite the challenges of directing the youngest cast they had ever worked with, Jehan and Neidra are confident that their efforts have been successful, as judged by the entertaining performance delivered the previous time, and of course the chemistry between all the actors on stage and off.

Thought to be one of Ray Cooney's funniest works, Tom Dick and Harry was instantly judged by the directors to be the perfect script for the bubbly cast they had in mind for the production. "For us, the charm of the play lies in the fact that the actors, particularly the three lead actors – when it comes down to their own personalities, are almost totally in sync with the characters they have to portray," enthused Jehan. "This was something they had going for them right from the word go."

Tom's character, played by Niren Neydorff, is a fairly normal, responsible and occasionally hen-pecked husband who, unfortunately for him, has two devilish brothers to deal with. Dick and Harry (played by Gehan Blok and Anush De Costa) are two schemers in their own way.

They work as a team, working hard towards what they consider to be their brother's best interests. They both maintain a healthy respect towards (in other words, they're scared of) Linda Kerwood. So, obviously, the entire drama unfolds with Linda ignorant of what is really going on.

And therein lies the perfect dysfunctional family. They are joined by two crazy Sri Lankan immigrants – Sulochana Perera and Miranga Ariyarathna, and are also by Neidra Williams, Javin Thomas and Charith De Silva.

The opening night will be presented by the Methodist College Class of '90, a loyal band of past pupils who wished to contribute something to their old school. Proceeds from this show will go towards the school's vehicle fund.

While parking will be available on the premises, tickets for the show on May 30 will be available at the Methodist College office from 7.30 am to 2 pm, and tickets for the other days (May 31 and June 1) will be available at the Lionel Wendt Theatre.