By Franz Amussen
A NEW production of the British farce Cash On Delivery will open December 3rd at the El Portal Theatre, directed by veteran British farce master Ray Cooney and written by Michael Cooney in North Hollywood, for 15 performances only.
Ray Cooney, who was made an OBE in 2004 for his services to British theatre, has been a prolific writer of stage farces and comedies for more than 40 years, and has enjoyed worldwide staging of his productions, which have been translated into more than 40 foreign languages including Chinese, Japanese and Russian. His work prompted Charles Spencer, who was the Daily Telegraph’s theatre critic for more than a quarter of a century before stepping down in 2014, to describe Ray Cooney as ‘a National Treasure’.
Cooney himself said of the art form: “People who go to the theatre and who work in this industry know what goes into a farce. As an actor you work very hard in farce. When you come off stage you really know you’ve been in one! For an audience, you see, they mustn’t see all the hard work, just the comedic developments – so the more people laugh, the better I have done my job.”
Ray’s son Michael was born and raised in London, England, and now makes his home in Los Angeles.
The international cast includes: Katie Amess, Marie-France Arcilla, Debra Cardona, Michael Sweeney Hammond, Hap Lawrence, Jim Mahoney, Sam Meader, Henrietta Meire and Brian Wallace. And look out for Ray Cooney himself as Uncle George.
For tickets and showtimes, visit www.elportaltheatre.com
