Ray Cooney to Bring OUT OF ORDER to The Marlowe Theatre This Month

Master of Farce Ray Cooney brings his latest show to The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, later this month.

Out Of Order is an updated version of Ray's Olivier-Award-winning Westminster comedy and comes in the year that he celebrates both his 85th birthday, and 70 years in showbusiness.

The cast includes Marlowe favourite Shaun Williamson (EastEnders, Extras), Sue Holderness (Only Fools And Horses, Green Green Grass), Andrew Hall (Butterflies, Coronation Street), Susie Amy (Footballers' Wives), Arthur Bostrom ('Allo 'Allo), and James Holmes (Miranda).

When Tory Junior Minister Richard Willey (Andrew Hall) tries to spend the evening with Jane (Susie Amy), one of the Opposition's secretaries, in the Westminster Hotel (managed by Arthur Bostrum), things don't exactly go according to plan, starting with the discovery of a body trapped in the hotel's only unreliable sash window. Enlisting the help of his hapless private secretary George Pigden (Shaun Williamson), Willey's sticky situation goes from bad to worse, and with the arrival of Jane's distraught young husband, an unscrupulous waiter, Mrs Willey (Sue Holderness) and Nurse Foster, things really come to a head!

The Body will be played by David Warwick, a role he has had since 1990 (along with other roles in the production).

Ray's credits include Run For Your Wife, Funny Money, Two Into One, Caught In The Net, and It Runs In The Family. Out Of Order was first produced regionally in 1980, under the original title Whose Wife Is It Anyway, with Ray playing George Pigden. The show was subsequently produced in the West End in 1990 starring Donald Sinden, Sandra Dickinson and Michael Williams, with Ray directing.

He said: "Having directed my Olivier-Award-Winning play in London and all over the world, and hearing all that wonderful raucous laughter from audiences, it has become one of my favourite plays. I've updated it to present day and, fortunately, the basic premise of a philandering MP is as likely today as it was when the play was originally written!"

Out Of Order is at The Marlowe Theatre from Monday 27 March to Saturday 1 April, with performances at 7.30pm and 2.30pm (Thursday and Saturday). Tickets, priced from £18.50 to £36.50 (concessions available; booking fee applies), are from the Box Office on 01227 787787, and marlowetheatre.com.