Written by Graham Linehan in 2011, The Ladykillers is a stage adaptation of the 1955 dark comedy film of the same name. Considered to be a British comedy classic, the film starred Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, and Katie Johnson, receiving great critical acclaim and winning numerous awards. In 2004 an American remake of the film, starring Tom Hanks, was met with mixed reactions.
The stage adaptation of The Ladykillers premiered in Liverpool in 2011 then transferred to London the following month, enjoying a successful run before embarking on a UK tour.
The story revolves around Mrs Wilberforce, an eccentric elderly widow who is frequently reporting apparently suspicious behaviour (of seemingly innocent people) in her neighbourhood to the local police, who politely humour her concerns. However, when she rents out her spare room to Professor Marcus, who requires the space to rehearse with his string quartet, she fails to realise they are actually preparing for a robbery and are not musicians afterall. The professor and his gang have planned to stage a robbery, but need to come up with a way to escape without being caught by the police. And then it becomes complicated – as all classic British comedies do!
Set design by Gaetano Santo immediately sets the era, aided by an excellent wardrobe design by Barb Talbot and Jayne Ruddick. Lighting design by Robin Le Blond and sound design by Pam Ford complete this quality set.
Genevieve Ryan is delightfully charming as Mrs Wilberforce, delivering a convincing portrayal and keeping the audience guessing the whole way through whether she was completely ignorant of what was actually going on or not.
Josh Hayes is wonderful as the tolerant local police constable.
Making up the rather inept robbery gang are Tony Clayton as Professor Marcus, Roger Paul as Major Courtney, Christian Brown as Harry Robinson, Mark Cluning as One Round and Tim Byron as Louis Harvey. All deliver excellent performances as the bumbling crooks and are perfectly cast into their respective roles. Each have their moments to shine and deliver the laughs.
Tony Clayton delivers a strong and convincing portrayal as the Professor and mastermind of the operation. Roger Paul is excellent as Major Courtney. Christian Brown is hilarious as the youngest member of the crime gang, often being sidetracked by the need to clean. Tim Byron looks every bit the mafia hitman as Louis. And Mark Cluning is brilliant as the likeable, but rather stupid, One Round.
The final members of this strong cast are Susana Grest and Valerie Mitchelmore, both lovely in their roles as Mrs Tromleyton and Mrs Fernsby.
Director Susan Rundle has balanced the darkness of this comedy with the silliness it needs. The laughs start within minutes of the show opening, and continue throughout. This is a show best served with a heavy dose of “suspend your disbelief”. It’s a silly play, with the dark humour of those early cartoons where the dastardly villains always came to a macabre ending (then reappearing for the next episode!). The sort of play where you can’t help but laugh out loud – as long as you don’t consider what you’re actually laughing at! Suspend your disbelief and enjoy a night of silly, but very dark classic British comedy.
The Ladykillers is now playing at the 1812 Theatre in Upper Ferntree Gully.
For more information and tickets: https://www.1812theatre.com.au/2026-season/the-ladykillers/
