Fresh from their sell out run of TV's Allo Allo, Thurrock Courts Players will soon be back on stage at Thurrock's Thameside Theatre with the comedy Cash on Delivery.

The familiar faces from February's French farce appear once again in this tale of benefit fraud, deception and false identity in a story with more twists and turns than a cheap garden hose.

Ian Benson (the fantastic Rene Artois) returns as Eric Swan, a mild mannered everyman who, after losing his job, becomes embroiled in a series of fraudulent benefit claims which, while easy to get into, prove not so easy to get out of.

As the lies mount up and the inspectors from the DSS arrive Eric's quick thinking and lively imagination means the web of lies becomes more and more tangled.

Throw in a lodger, a family crisis worker, a marriage guidance counsellor, an undertaker, Eric's wife and good old Uncle George and soon no-one knows who they are or who they are supposed to be.

Written by Michael Cooney – son of the famous Ray Cooney of Whitehall Theatre fame – this mad-cap modern farce is a firm favourite with audiences and enjoyed a West End run in the 1990s starring Bradley Walsh as Eric Swan and a subsequent tour with Melvyn Hayes as Uncle George.

As with other Courts productions that are reprised years later, many of the cast performed in diferent (and younger) roles when the group performed the show in 2006 and the jokes and storyline are just as relevant today.

advertisement

The show runs for 3 nights only from 16-18 May 2024 at the Thameside Theatre, Grays, which has recently announced they will remain open until March 2025. Get a ticket now to help keep local theatre alive.

BOOK VIA THIS LINK