BWW Reviews: GCT Brings Back Hilarious CASH ON DELIVERY

Cash on Delivery/by Michael Cooney/directed by Zoe Bright/GCT (Glendale Centre Theatre)/through May 10

1996's British farce Cash on Delivery is an exceedingly hilarious romp through an unemployed man's out-of-control experiences with social security fraud. Written by Michael Cooney, son of well-known British actor/writer Ray Cooney, the play builds an affecting series of misunderstandings, mistaken identities and all-out silliness that prevail when Eric Swan (Michael Sartain) attempts to fraudulently kill off the people - out of guilt - whose government checks he has been collecting illegally. Now onstage at GCT, Zoe Bright has directed evenly and with dynamite pacing, guaranteeing fool-proof laughter with a terrific cast, through May 10 only.

It is impossible to give away the plot because as things are happening, there is so much confusion and so many names and events mentioned, that unless you have a fantastically organized brain, you will not remember them all. Suffice to say, you will laugh your head off and enjoy every second. To give a couple of silly examples, Eric impersonating another tenant tells the inspector (Tom Killam) that tenant Norman (Collin McCarthy) is a deaf piano tuner and can read lips. The inspector states, "Through the door?" Eric retorts, "He has very keen eyesight." Of course, as in all British farce sexual innuendos abound and when Ms. Cowper (Bright) emphatically declares "I am not easy to satisfy", we interpret that sentence going further than an acceptance of what statements are lies and which are really the facts. Another double entendre: social worker Miss Chessington (Kelly Smith) states that she is going "to lay Norman" in the bed; it refers to her moving a nearby corpse, but also... There is some transgender comedy to boot replete with lots of feminine apparel including undergarments. The British are consummate farceurs with no boundaries... infamous for their clever obscenities and witty takes on extreme preferences. There are also plenty of slamming doors, quick entrances and exits and even a washing machine that speaks its mind from time to time...

The ensemble playing a variety of eccentric characters under Bright's keen direction are all great: Sartain, McCarthy, Killam, Smith, Bright, and Danni Wheeler as wife Linda, Kyle Kelley so physically adept as Uncle George, Don Woodruff a scream as the bewildered Dr. Chapman, Tom Allen as the oh so proper undertaker and Brenda Dixon as Norman's innocent fiancee. There is not a flaw, not a missed cue. No one stands above anyone else. Use of the aisles and the setting in the round most definitely enhances the speed of the play.

So, put Cash on Delivery at the top of your must-see list and go, go, go and enjoy, through May 10 only! This play was a smash for GCT a few years ago, so they have wisely brought it back. It's one of the funniest farces I've seen in a very long time.

http://www.glendalecentretheatre.com/