CTG presents No Dinner for Sinners

Chelmer Community Theatre

10^th May-1st June 2025

 

Dr Gemma Regan

 

A devilish enjoyable evening of saucy silliness in the suburbs!

 

It’s the time of year when the Centenary Theatre Group (CTG) dusts off their English accents and wheels out the drinks trolley, ready for their annual British romp. Edward Taylor’s No Dinner for Sinners, directed by William McCreery-Rye, is an enjoyable traditional 80’s farce replete with multiple doorways, scantily clad women and comedic confusion!

 

Jim Watt (James Sheehan, Noises Off, Drinking Habits) is the stereotypical wide-boy who runs the London office of a stock-trading firm. He lives in sin with his girlfriend Helen (Danielle Robert) and is preparing to host a posh dinner for Bill (Chris Gyler, The Mousetrap), his boss from the USA, and Nancy (Natalie McGregor, Noises Off, Run for Your Wife), his wife. However, Jim has to wade through a torrent of terrific tales when his partner refuses to pretend to host as his wife, with no ring in sight. The dinner promises to be a recipe for disaster rather than the posh haute cuisine, as he chaotically rings around to find a replacement trophy wife in the eleventh hour. 

 

Julie Collins, as Edna Chapman, steals the show as Jim’s improper cleaning lady, dropping her vowels and secrets of her salubrious family when she takes the ill-fated wife role. Her conversation is not as polished as the silver, and her culinary abilities include dusty Weetabix from the floor. 

 

Poor Jim struggles to control the ever-spiralling mayhem of mistaken identity when his sexy secretary Terri also takes on the married role played well by Amelia Platter in her inaugural role with the CTG. Stock market diversions and gas lighting are Jim’s only arsenal to survive the melee of miscommunications as the J.R.-styled Bill in cream suit and silver-tipped winkle-pickers, a supporter of the group ‘Moral Outrage’, witnesses Jim and his wives’ indecent exposures! 

 

McGregor as Bill’s wife is an excellent salve to the caustic calamities, soothing her explosive husband as morals and mistresses are questioned. Gyler, as Bill, bumbles along in character, which is effective when he is hoodwinked by Jim (Sheehan), who is masterful throughout the seamlessly executed chaotic play. 

 

In her first acting role in Brisbane, Central Queenslander Danielle Robert is adroit in playing the disgruntled girlfriend and manipulates Jim and the guests like a pro. Collins as the cleaner, is outstanding with her cheeky asides and ebullience for extortion bringing hilarity to the role with aplomb.

 

Serena Altea has chosen equally comical costumes, including a Texan ten-gallon hat and a particularly scandalous apron that Edna wears over her ‘posh’ outfit, which is not to be missed!

 

The set design is a simple multi-doored London flat with the lovely touch of a live digital window displaying London buses and the British weather. Don’t miss the special view during the finale!

Director William McCreery-Rye has delivered another well-executed British farce with No Dinner for Sinners, after his successful 2024 Noises Off production. It is an enjoyable evening of saucy silliness, in the style of the popular Carry On films. There is no better Autumnal night out in the suburbs, accompanied by a cheap glass of wine from the bar!