This month, the Vagabond Players are presenting a fast, frantic and sidesplitting British farce.
Charley’s Aunt, running June 1 to 25 at the Bernie Legge Theatre in Queen’s Park New Westminster, begins with Charley’s rich aunt, Donna Lucia, visiting from Brazil.
Her presence as a chaperone allows Charley and his friend, Jack, to ask their respective true loves, Amy and Kitty, for their hands in marriage. But time is ticking, so where is Charley’s aunt? On learning she will be delayed, they blackmail their friend, Lord Fancourt Babberley, to pose as Donna Lucia. But when Jack’s newly impoverished father arrives, along with the girls’ greedy guardian, ‘Babbs’ becomes the most popular widow in town. Then Charley’s real aunt arrives.
Langley’s Kyle Wipp stars as Babbs Babberley, the hapless student who is forced to impersonate Charley’s Aunt. Adam Timler and Alex Ross play fellow students, Charley and Jack, while Ashley Chodat and Elizabeth Drummond are Amy and Kitty, the girls that they love. The real aunt is played by Isabel Mendenhall, and Ryan Johnson takes the role of Amy’s lovelorn guardian. The cast is rounded out by Richard Wiens as Colonel Sir Frances Chesney Bart, Roger Monk as Brassett, Jack’s butler, and Valeria Ascolese as Ela Delahay, the pretty orphan who catches Babbs Babberley’s eye.
Directed by Dale Kelly, this classic comedy ran for 1,466 performances when it opened in 1892 and it has been delighting audiences ever since.
The show runs Thursday to Saturday at 8 p.m. with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $17, or $15 for seniors and youth. $12 previews are available on June 1 and 2. Purchase at www.vagabondplayers.ca/tickets or call 604-521-0412.