Boeing Boeing by Marc Camoletti is a hilarious farce about Bernard Lawrence,
a British playboy who carries on three affairs with three air hostesses of
three different airlines without them knowing about each other. He has their
arrivals and departures mapped out with such precision in his time tables
that no two girls can come home to his London flat to be with him at any
given time. Reluctantly helping Bernard is his acerbic-tongued, efficient
but slightly tired live-in maid, Bertha, who has to manage three sets of
photographs, clothing (two of which are always locked up) and bed linen, and
has to remember that it is Janet who eats kidneys, Judith who eats
Sauerkraut and Jacqueline who eats soufflés. The ideal bachelor life. Or is
it?
The arrival of an old acquaintance, Robert Long, at his London flat marks
the beginning of what could be a chaotic ending to his playboy life. With no
accommodation in London, Bernard asks Robert to stay with him till he finds
a suitable dwelling. But Robert’s excitable and panicky demeanor coupled
with his cunning, amorous and slightly air headed attitude messes up
Bernard’s carefully laid out love-life and hangs his romances, dignity and
mere existence in grave danger.
To make matters worse, Bernard finds out that all his three girlfriends are
about to be transferred to new Boeing airplanes which are faster and more
efficient, resulting in them having more time on their hands to spend with
Bernard at his London flat. This throws Bernard’s timetables into shambles
and chaos enters when Bernard tries to do the impossible: avoiding awkward
and dangerous confrontations between his three girlfriends.
The Cast
Boeing Boeing will feature Niren Neydorff and Gehan Blok in the role of
Bernard Lawrence while Charith De Silva comes in as Robert Long. Neidra
Williams will play the role of the housekeeper, Bertha. The three hostesses
will be played by Michelle Herft (Judith – Deutsche Air), Celina Cramer
(Jacqueline – Air France) and Keishya Leitch (Janet – American Airways)
Silent Hands started off as group of theatre lovers working backstage
providing their services to other directors who needed services such as
stage management lighting and sound management. Two of the core members
Neidra Williams and Jehan Bastians regularly direct St. Peters College for
the annual Shakespeare drama competition and have two runners up awards and
two wins in the last 6 years. They also directed St Bridget’s Convent in
their inaugural stint this year to their first Shakespeare win in over 12
years.
The first full length production undertaken by Silent Hands was William
Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Nights Dream” in 2003 followed by an original
work “The Legend of Excalibur” in 2004, “Yes Hon. Minister” in 2007 and
“Tom, Dick & Harry” in 2008. The group is best known for its own magical
genre of theatre which was brought out in the first two productions and also
for its genre of comedy which brought tons of laughter through the last two
productions.
A Midsummer Nights Dream featured Jerome De Silva as Puck together with
Neidra Williams, Charith De Silva, Mario De Soysa who are regular members of
the team. ‘The Legend of Excalibur” showcased Mohammed Adamaly as the
legendary King Arthur once again supported by Neidra, Charith, and Mario.
The third production came after a two year break from “The Legend of
Excalibur” staged in June 2004. The core team that handled the previous
production re-united to produce Yes! Hon. Minister which was a huge hit with
theatre going public in Colombo.
Fresh on the success of “Yes Hon. Minister” came the Kerwood family saga
“Tom Dick & Harry”. This again proved to be a tremendous success which
resulted in an encore being staged six months later.