The Ladykillers

When Mrs Wilberforce puts an advert in the local newsagent’s window to rent out her guest bedrooms, the last thing she expects is to be overrun by a group of enthusiastic, if eccentric, amateur musicians. But despite the constant sound of a string quartet filling the house, Professor Marcus and his friends The Major, Harry, Louis and ‘One-Round’ are not what they seem, and soon she finds herself dragged into the Professor’s scheme to pull off a violent robbery. With the police unaware, only Mrs Wilberforce and her parrot, General Gordon, stand between the five desperate criminals and their ill-gotten £200,000.

Will she see justice done? Or will they keep the ‘old girl’ quiet…permanently?

Who will be forced to face the music?

November 1956. It’s over 11 years since the end of the Second World War and Britain is still coming to terms with its new position in the world. The Empire is no more, and in an attempt to restore some national pride and underline an intent to remain a major player on the global stage, Prime Minister Anthony Eden is about to launch an invasion of Egypt to recover the Suez Canal. At home, the rationing introduced in 1939 only finished a year ago, and our austerity struck country still bears the scars of the war it supposedly won, with large sections of blitz-hit London remaining derelict. But the mood is upbeat. The early strains of rock ‘n’ roll are filtering across the Atlantic and with that, the seeds of teenage ‘rebellion’. James Dean and Marilyn Monroe, Rock Hudson, Doris Day and Yul Brynner are the Hollywood stars of the day. An 18 year old Bobby Charlton scored on his debut for Manchester United just three weeks ago and the Melbourne Summer Olympics start later this month.

This is the world of The Ladykillers.

Originally a film made by Ealing Studios and released in 1955, it starred Alec Guinness as ‘Professor’ Marcus, with a young Peter Sellers as Harry and Herbert Lom as Louis.  A largely unsuccessful remake starring Tom Hanks as Marcus, with the action moved to Mississippi, came out in 2004. Graham Linehan, who had already been successful in writing for television with such programmes as ‘Father Ted, ‘Black Books’ and ‘The IT Crowd’ wrote this theatre adaptation in 2011, and after debuting in Liverpool, the production went on to a successful and extended run at the Gielgud Theatre in London’s West End starring Peter Capaldi as ‘Professor’Marcus.

Interestingly, there is a theory that the story of The Ladykillers is more than simply a black comedy, and holds a mirror up to the times it was set in. Thus Mrs Wilberforce is the embodiment of Britannia, an aging defender of proper British values, while her house is the Empire, ramshackle and falling apart, full of the memories of one-time glories now faded. Arrayed against her are the con-man ‘Major’ representing the British ruling classes, with pill-popping wide-boy Harry as dissolute youth, punch-drunk ‘One-Round’ as the oafish masses and knife-wielding Louis the dangerous immigrant. Where ‘Professor’ Marcus fits in, the theory doesn’t say. Perhaps he represents intellectuals, pseudo-intellectuals, academics or even politicians. You can make up your own mind.

Graham Linehan sees it as demonstrating that even the worst of men have a little good in them…and that it is this that ultimately dooms them.Whatever its deeper meanings, if it has them, The Ladykillers is a classic black comedy. Enjoy.