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The Titfield Thunderbolt is adapted from the Ealing comedy of the same name. And whilst the film boasted a large cast, the stage adaptation is performed by a cast of 5 with each of them, apart from one, playing at least 2 characters.
Paul Leonard, who isn�t new to Cut to the Chase, but I haven�t seen him in a show before apart from the 50th Anniversary Gala, is brilliant as the wheeler dealer Vernon Crump. When he hears that the railway line is to close he buys a bus and plans to run a service in place of the railway. He also does his best to ruin a chance the villagers have of running the railway themselves. Paul also plays Mr Valentine, a local drunkard, who puts up the money for the villagers to buy the railway and Mr Clegg, the railway inspector, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Hitler.
Kate O�Mara only plays one person, the lady of the manor so to speak, Lady Edna Chesterford. Lady Edna comes across as something of a battleaxe but her heart is the right place as he fights for what she believes in. It�s a good part for Kate as she appears to be very good at playing the upper crust type.
Loveday Smith I have seen many times at Hornchurch and I always enjoy her performances. Loveday is mainly Joan Weech on stage, the sweet niece of the village vicar. She is in love with Harry Crump but she won�t admit it until almost the end when she blurts out that she will marry him. Loveday has a very small cameo as Clifton, a railway worker and it sees her sporting a moustache and trying to be like a man. Loveday�s final character is Miss Coggett, a music hall artiste who pretends to be from the railway union but it�s part of Vernon Crump�s plan. Miss Coggett really is Loveday�s best character even though she�s not on stage for that long. Miss Coggett looks like Marilyn Monroe and she uses her feminine charms to try and get Mr Ruddock to do what she wants.
Steven Pinder, I knew from when he was Max Farnham in Brookside, but he really is a great comic actor and he has such enthusiasm that it does sweep you along with him. Steven is town clerk, Mr Blakeworth, who is really against the villagers running the railway. Steven�s finest hour is when he is the railway mad village vicar, Sam Weech. He is just sensational and so funny with great facial expressions and I did find myself laughing a lot of the time when he was on stage.
Finally Phil Reed, the busiest man in the show, he plays five different people, all of whom are characteristically very different so it�s quite complicated for Phil. He starts off as old railway man Dan Taylor, Dan must be at least 60 and Phil has being old down to a pat and he is just brilliant as an old man. Next it�s Harry Crump and he is a steam roller driver who wants to be independent from his dad Vernon who comes across as a bit of a local crook so Harry doesn�t want to be involved with him. Harry is also in love with Joan and there are some funny lines as he could be talking about the steam roller or Joan when he says them. These two characters are the main people Phil plays but he does have 3 cameos who are on stage a couple of times at most. Mr Ruddock, a slightly wimpy character with a lisp who is trying to conduct an enquiry into the closure of the railway but gets bowled over by Miss Coggett. Sergeant Wilson, the village bobby, who gets the laughs by having lines that play on the fact he looks like Harry Crump and lastly Phil�s funniest cameo Mrs Bottomley, complete with high heels, high pitched voice and rollers and I did just find him so funny as it was very over the top.
Funny and well written with no low points. It was great.
Evie Hartman-Clark
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