Written By
Anthony Marriott and Bob Grant
Where and When
17th – 19th April 1980 @ The Allendale Centre, Wimborne
The Plot
Despite his hobby of fighting battles with toy soldiers, Edward is a mild person and he is about to experience an evening he will never forget. He works at the Continental Telephone Exchange where his pompous brother in law is his supervisor. Edward often “chats up” women operators in various exchanges. These affairs by proxy suddenly explode in his face when four glamorous females travel to London to compete in the Miss Europhone Contest and arrive at this home anxious to meet the flirtatious Mr. London in the flesh. Hilarious complications ensue as Edward strives to conceal his telephonic peccadilloes from his wife, his appalling mother in law and his lodger, an ardent curate.
Cast
- Rose Hawkins – Raymonde Grenville
- Gordon Routledge – Peter Wells
- Edward Hawkins – Spencer Hare
- Mark Thomson – Simon Jackson
- Monique – Jane Sherwill
- Mrs Routledge – Muriel Brooks
- Sylvana – Mavis Hazleden
- Ingrid – Hannah Bradley
- Snowdrop – Wendy Bruin
Creative Team
- Director – David Sherwill
- Set Design – Thelma Dryden and Muriel Brooks
- Stage Management – Joe Brooks
- Lighting – John Anthony
- Sound – David Sherwill
- Properties – Wendy Bruin and Sarah Anthony
- Prompt – Jan Stevenson
- Front of House – David Green
- Publicity – David Sherwill
Previews
Lucky Mr. London
Incentive bonus at the Bournemouth Telepphone Exchange? No it’s Spencer Hare playing the part of Mr. London, in Wimborne Drama Club’s next production at the Allendale Center, Wimborne of “Darling Mr London” on April 17, 18 and 19, familiaring nimself with the role of telephone supervisor.
Here he is descended up by misses Rome, Paris, Oslo and West Berlin, played by Mavis Hazleden, Jane Sherwill, Wendy Bruin and Hannah Bradley, who have each fallen for his charms and take the oppurtunity to call at his home when visiting England for the final of the Miss Europhone Contest”.
The effect on his life and that of his wife and mother-in-law result in an evening he will never forget.
Players Get The Right Atmosphere
This “rehearsal” by members of Wimborne Drama Club looks a little phoney – in more ways than one.
It took place not at the Allendale Community Centre but in the telephone echange at Bournemouth, which club members visited to sample the atmosphere ready for their latest production, Darling Mr. London.
The farce, which is on at the Allendale Centre on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, is about contestants for the Miss Europhone Contest. Four of them Misses Rome, Paris, West Berlin and Oslo played by played by Mavis Hazleden, Jane Sherwill, Wendy Bruin and Hannah Bradley – have all fallen for the telephone charm of supervisor Mr.London and decide to visit him while in England for the final of the contest.
This leads to an evening which turns out to be unforgettable for Mr London, his wife and mother-in-law.
Mr London is played by Spencer Hare, seen here in the real telephone supervisors chair. Another member of the cast, played by Peter Wells, is looking on in amazement.
Gallery
Reviews
Laughing at Mr London
There is nothing like a well performed farce to stimulate a good belly laugh and that was exactly what Wimborne Drama Club’s three audiences were able to enjoy at the Allendale Community Centre.
The club’s production of Darling Mr London was one of the funniest and most enjoyable plays seen in the Minster town. It was also a titilating production, thanks largely to the antics of the scantily clad Jane Sherwill, who gave a convincing professional performance as the seductive Monique, the French contestant in the Miss Europhone Contest.
She and three other Continental telephonists were ostensibly in London for the contest. But it appeared their first objective was the seduction of Mr London, the Casanova of the international telephone lines, whose voice and romantic patter had won their hearts.
Mr London played by Spencer Hare turned out to be all talk and little action and the consequences were an evening of hilarious pandemonium for him and his household.
Most members of the cast were familiar faces to Wimborne audiences but the production did see impressive stage debuts for Mavis Hazleden as one of the telephone girls and local policeman Peter Wells as Mr London’s brother-in-law.
An especially notable contribution came from Simon Jackson as Mr London’s curate lodger. Simon was the funniest man of the cloth since Derek Nimmo, whose generally imitable voice he managed, by chance or design, to imitate to near perfection.
The play was produced and directed by David Sherwill.
Programme
