Theatre and dance

Host lost in the mating game

August 15, 2003

AS BOTH writer and director, Leslie Lawton gets the maximum laughs out of The Mating Game at The Mill at Sonning.

He plays the brother of popular TV chat show host Draycott Harris, who turns up at his sibling’s bachelor pad at the most inopportune time after years in Australia.

Draycott’s problem is that his actual love life lags far behind his reputation as a ladykiller and his experienced brother James volunteers to rectify the situation. The result, predictably, is chaos.

Author Robin Hawdon briskly keeps the farcical wheel turning and Lawton abets him with much inventive detail, both in his own performance and in the production as a whole.

As befits a former pupil of Reading School, Michael Fenner as Draycott manages to keep his dignity in the most embarrassing circumstances.

Hawdon was formerly an actor – he even played Hamlet – so he has a pretty good sense of what works on stage.

Tina Hall as uninhibited PR sexpot Honey Tooks, Shona Lindsay as Draycott’s prim (well, to start with) secretary Julia and Helen Cotterill as his frisky housekeeper Mrs Finney all seize their opportunities.

Emily Cross’s set also contributes to the hilarity with a revolve which whisks people smartly out of sight.

The Mating Game runs until Saturday, September 6 – it’s ideal entertainment for a warm summer evening.