Tea Tree Players Take A Trip ‘Up Pompeii’

 Well known for their hilarious British farces, Tea Tree Players are about to present the South Australian premiere of the stage version of Up Pompeii.

Written in the seventies by Carry On… stalwart Talbot Rothwell and Sid Colin, Up Pompeii was a BBC television comedy series starring the one and only Frankie Howerd, basically to cash in on his success in the West End production of Stephen Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. The TV series ran for two seasons in 1970, with a follow-on series in 1975, Further Up Pompeii – and spawned three movies: Up Pompeii, Up The Chastity Belt and Up The Front.

With Miles Tredinnick’s 2011 stage version, Tea Tree Players are about to take Up Pompeii to the N (for naughty)th degree. The Players promise slave girls, slave boys, mistaken identities, cross dressing and volcanic ash in an explosive climax to this classic Man vs Volcano story.

As Lurcio, Senator Ludicrus Sextus’s slave, attempts to deliver his prologue, he’s caught up in the myriad of sexual liaisons in all quarters of his master’s house. Why does Ludicrus not leave for Rome? Why does his wife return so quickly from the country? Who will take care of escaped slave Voluptua, and will Nausius’s love poetry improve? Whilst growing chaos ensues, an increasing rumbling is heard in the distance! A riot from start to finish.

Directed by Robert Andrews (Deathtrap, Situation Comedy, Noises Off), this version features Brendan Cooney in the role made famous by Howerd, Tea Tree Players’ President and regular Theresa Dolman, and the Players’ resident funny man Damon Hill (in a role normally played by a female!).

The show will be performed at the Tea Tree Players Theatre, Corner of Yatala Vale and Hancock Roads, Surrey Downs. Tickets are $15 or $13 concession and can be booked by phoning the Players’ Ticket office on 8289 5266 or purchased via their website : www.teatreeplayers.com