The Hamble Players present :

Caught in the Net, Ray Cooney's follow-up to his successful farce Run for Your Wife		

Profile : Martin Crawley, Director

This play was a challenge for me for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it's the first farce I've directed and this type of production is reliant upon impeccable timing from the cast and back-stage crew. The tension and much of the humour come from the increasingly frenetic (and improbable) pace. The audience - and cast - are left breathless by the end. It requires good planning, clear direction and actors of the highest calibre. Fortunately, I had the last in spades.  

Secondly, due to timing and planning issues with the previous production, we only had six weeks in which to get all this right. It meant the cast had to work doubly hard, with extra rehearsals - some weeks we had three evening rehearsals. Many people don't realise that most amateur companies have only a fraction of the time in which to rehearse that the pros get. And with the generally shorter runs that amateurs enjoy, the actors are just starting to relax, get into their stride and enjoy the play before it all ends, the scenery has to come down and work starts on the next play. 

Storyline : In Caught in the Net, Cooney updates the audience on the seventeen years that have passed and how they have affected the bigamous John and his two wives, Barbara and Mary. There is a teenage son and daughter now, who meet in an Internet chatroom, get on well and decide to meet up in person. They are intrigued by the similarities between their fathers…

John, of course, is desperate to keep them apart and enlists the help of his best friend, Stanley, who brings along his old Dad, who, for some reason, thinks he's at a hotel in Felixstowe and spends half the play wandering around trying to get his malfunctioning ball-cock sorted out.  

All the usual farcical devices are brought to bear including mistaken identity, slamming doors and spot-on timing.

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Click here to view Setbuild photos

Cast List :

Gavin Smith : Andrew Wilson

Vicki Smith  : Paige Wilkins

Barbara Smith : Beverley Oliver

Mary Smith : Maria Barnett

John Smith : Wayne Ings 

Stanley Gardner :  Alan Fisk

Dad : Barney Drake