CHARLEY’S AUNT
Fancy a trip on the Tardis to Victorian England? Then stop off at the Genesian Theatre’s production of Charley’s Aunt.
Charley and his friend Jack are in love, but unable to meet their girls because they need a chaperone. Enter Charley’s Aunt Lucia who is due to arrive in Oxford that day. Unfortunately, Aunty is delayed, so the boys enlist the aid of their friend Babbs who hilariously impersonates her.
What follows is Downton Abbey mixed with How I Met Your Mother, featuring mistaken identities, inappropriate declarations of love, an uppity butler and naturally, a happy ending.
Carlin Hurdis as Jack is a believable young lover, Thomas Greader is a suitably subservient Charley, and Stephen Holland is a likeably snide Brassett. However, it is Nicholas Pond as Babbs, part Edna Everage and part pantomime dame, who stars with a knowing smile and great comedic timing.
With beautiful period sets and costumes, Charley’s Aunt is a delightfully mischievous peek into the Victorian era.
