Swanage Drama Company 
The Mowlem Theatre, Swanage 
John Sivewright 
12 June 2025
Fresh off their successful 2024 production of Cash On Delivery, a highly amusing comedy from Michael Cooney, son of the “master of farce”, Ray Cooney, Swanage Drama Company went back to the well again, this time presenting a lesser known, yet almost equally as funny offering from the Cooney clan. Caught In The Net, written by Ray as a sequel to his highly successful Run For Your Wife, follows the exploits of bigamist taxi driver, John Smith, as he continues to juggle living with his wife, Mary, in Wimbledon and simultaneously with his other wife, Barbara, in Streatham. Added to the mix this time for further complications are his teenage children – Vicki, with Mary, and Gavin, with Barbara – who, coincidentally, find each other online in a chat room and want to meet in person! Aided, once again, by his loyal lodger, Stanley (who is trying to get off on holiday to Felixstowe with his elderly father), John spends much of the play desperately trying to keep his unknowing households apart.
The script, like all Cooney’s, is ingeniously crafted, but my one criticism would be that there’s little explanation offered around how John’s taxi driver job helps him manage his double life – perhaps Ray assumed that everyone would have already seen Run For Your Wife? I, luckily, had; others that hadn’t might have taken a while to twig exactly what was going on. But that’s a minor quibble – while Caught In The Net doesn’t quite have the belly laughs of its “father”, Run For Your Wife, it’s still consistently very funny throughout, with fast-paced door opening and closing, clever word-play, hilarious sight-gags and misunderstandings aplenty – everything you’d want in a good English farce!
The cast of seven all worked hard to bring their characters to life. Farce is a very difficult genre to nail, as pace is key, as is allowing the plot and dialogue to get the laughs for you, rather than playing anything too OTT. For the most part, the players walked the right side of the line and got the most out of the comic-rich script. In the lead role of John Smith, David Wellstead-Arnold did a commendable job as the glue that holds the show together, as much depends on his ability to spin a yarn, keep up the frantic energy and try and stop his world from collapsing around him. He did an excellent job with his big monologue in Act Two, fully deserving of the round of applause from the audience that followed.
James Chelton as upstairs lodger, Stanley Gardner, simply revelled in his part, doing a splendid job playing “cheeky chappie” and “dazed and confused” in equal measure, with some wonderful physical comedy thrown in. As wives, Mary and Barbara, Livvy Peden and Hannah Chelton both excelled. Livvy was a joy as she grew increasingly more manic throughout the show, while Hannah skilfully displayed the patient and compassionate side of Barbara. Both ladies especially shone in the final scene, simply bubbling with personality. As teenagers Vicki and Gavin, Karis England and Anthony Ayles both gave highly confident and impressive performances. Karis brought out the exasperation of Vicki with aplomb, while Anthony convinced as eager and kind-hearted Gavin. Let’s hope we see plenty more of these youngsters in future Swanage Drama Company productions.
Last, but certainly by no means least, Mike Hill put in a show-stealing performance as Dad, the doddery father of Stanley. In a part originally played by comic legend Eric Sykes on the London stage, Mike put in an astonishingly funny performance; you’d have thought the part was written for him. With spot-on comic timing, Mike had the audience in the palm of his hands, delivering his many side-splitting lines with gusto. According to the programme, this was Mike’s first acting role in a number of years – let’s hope we don’t have to wait quite so long to see him tread the boards again!
Backstage elements all combined to enhance what was already a strong production. The set, representing both flats in Wimbledon and Streatham simultaneously, was sturdy (important in a farce with doors frequently in use!) and well dressed, although more contrast of colour between the wallpapers of both flats would have been welcome. Costumes, props and sound effects helped to evoke the mid 2000’s period; I was especially taken by John Smith’s pre-smartphone mobile ring tone! Although perhaps, for the remainder of the run, a battery could be put in the clock on the upstage wall? The action of the play is continuous, so a working clock would be one of those little features that could enhance the show even further.
Director, Brian Travers, should be very proud of the efforts of his cast and crew, and of himself too. He has managed to pull together a polished and very funny production, which was well received by a highly appreciative first night audience at the Mowlem. The show runs until tomorrow evening – catch it if you can!
