A Joint Production Between The Southwick Players and The Wick Theatre Company.

Notes by The Wick Theatre Company:

BR wrote “Tom Stoppard’s On the Razzle appeared in 1981, but the plot goes back a long way. The trail starts with a one-act play, John Oxenford’s A Day Well Spent [1835] which was turned into A Lad Needs a Fling in 1842 by legendary Viennese playwright and actor, Johann Nestroy. Before Stoppard got to it, Thornton Wilder used parts of the story in The Merchant of Yonkers [1938] and The Matchmaker [1954] – and the latter went on to become Hello Dolly! in 1963.

Although Stoppard has used much of Nestroy’s basic characters and plot, all of the dialogue is unmistakably his own. It fizzes with brilliant wordplay at one moment, corny jokes and crude double meanings the next. His is also a highly visual play, using dozens of gags and tricks in the best tradition of music hall and comic theatre.
On the Razzle was a great critical success when it opened at the Edinburgh Festival, and then enjoyed a popular run at the National Theatre in London and on tour. That original production featured Felicity Kendall as the young shop-boy, following Nestroy’s tradition of having the rôle of Christopher played as a ‘breeches’ part – a tradition which we also follow here.

On the Razzle calls for a large cast, which is probably why professional revivals of the play are so rare. Fortunately, Southwick is able to muster the resources needed! Of course, the challenge is not simply about the scale of the production. It is also about the difficult and deadly serious business of making great comedy look like effortless fun. To that end, the large acting and technical team assembled by the Southwick Players and Wick Theatre Company have put in an enormous effort – and even had some fun as well.

It is a pleasure to be directing this production as a collaboration between these two fine old theatre companies, one now in its 50th year, the other in its 60th, in the splendid new Barn. The joint production is very much a celebration – both of these companies’ many achievements and of the reopening of the theatre itself. What better way to celebrate than with the heady brew of On the Razzle!