Season 67 Play 4 – Inspector Drake’s Last Case by David Tristram
Directed by
Cast
Sergeant Plod – Jonathan Scott
Victor Gagarin – Tim Gatti
Miss Duck – Rhiannon Cawthorne
Mrs Gagarin & Mary Ship – Jacqueline Scott
Mr Guest – Gordon Sugden
Mr Butler – Phil Jordan
Mrs Gardner – June Driver
Mr Cook – Ian Atkinson
Synopsis
No-one could have foreseen the strange events that took place one dark evening at the home of Mrs Gagarin. She is seen taking a stroll. Next she screams, “Who is it? Oh, it’s you!” Then a gunshot. It’s up to the world’s greatest detective and his hapless sidekick Sergeant Plod to solve this mysterious “whodunnit?” A host of chortles, jokes you see coming and silliness follow, designed simply to make you laugh out loud. Equally as good as the Inspector’s previous case of The Perfekt Crime.
Directors Notes
How thrilled I was to be asked to direct Inspector Drake’s Last Case”. Our first Inspector Drake play (“Inspector Drake and the Perfekt Crime”) was so well received when performed in December 2011 that it was always going to be the case that there would be, at least, a second.
I have again got the marvellous team of David Helliwell as Inspector Drake and Jonathan Scott as Sergeant Plod. It could not have been anyone else – they were so very good the first time. I also have again the lovely Rhiannon Cawthorne, this time playing the very glamorous Miss Duck. There are certain other elements of the play that will give you (quite deliberately) a sense of déjà vu. I wonder if you can work out what they are! I’m giving no clues.
It has been a fun-filled rehearsal schedule, although it has been a very difficult time to rehearse – even more so this year, with Christmas and New Year both falling midweek rather than attaching themselves to weekends – we were therefore a whole week’s worth of rehearsals down from the start.
My cast (all wonderful in their parts) have, however, been remarkably good about coming in to rehearsals and abandoning various family parties in order to work as a team on the play, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for that – every spare moment we have been rehearsing. We have also been reasonably lucky with the weather, which can also present a problem at this time of year.
As with the first Inspector Drake play, it is both deadly serious and full of slapstick – shouldn’t work, but it does!
So, sit back and relax and enjoy the first play at BLT of 2015 – funny, not too long – perfect for the cold wintry days of January.
Hoping you’ve all had a very Merry Christmas and wishing you all a very happy 2015 from the cast and crew of “Inspector Drake’s Last Case”.
