Mandeville Enterprises was delighted to learn that the good stout folk of Cambridge had taken up the cause, and were labouring in rehearsal, to perfect their own staging of this magnificent play. Performances took place at The Fitzpatrick Theatre, Queens' College, Cambridge, on Wednesday February 26th to Saturday March 1st 2003, at 11 p.m.

The all-new cast was as follows:

Mr Edward Segal (eps23@cam.ac.uk) was the director. See also the BATS website.

Should patrons find the Fitzpatrick Theatre convenient and congenial, then they may like to know that there are other plays to be staged there in the near future, by other playwrights whom Mandeville Enterprises wishes to encourage. These are The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Lysistrata by Aristophanes, and The Three Sisters by Anton Chekov.

Here follow some snapshots taken by Mr Nikolas Lloyd on his new-fangled digital camera, on the occassion of the last night of the run. To avoid using flash-lighting, he opted to employ a very slow shutter speed, which explains both the blurred nature of some of the shots, and the smallness of these pictures, which is an attempt to hide that blurredness.

Laura Davies, wrote the following revue of the Cambridge Production in the The Cambridge Student, on 27th February 2003.

In a world where the Conservatives have actually managed to organise themselves an election victory, Lenin was but a goateed enthusiast and not only Italy and Spain, but also our moderate friends over the Atlantic have voluntarily joined the British Empire, two gentlemen set about defending the realm against "the perils of the French menace". Stoke Mandeville (Matt Stevens) and Carstairs Macdonald (Robin Holden) are the men for the job.

Trouble is, in this parallel universe, old Blighty has gone and colonised the solar system by means of an ingenious system of steam powered space travel, the mole francais has infiltrated the Ministry of Manners and Carstairs isn't Carstairs at all, but rather one Graham Pennyworth, lawyer and one time diner in what seemed a perfectly safe French restaurant in Liverpool. On this important mission they plan to achieve victory by means only of "pipe smoking, pugilism and properly boiled food".

Owen Monie, Hannah Meyer and Richard Roberts work hard, each playing at least two roles. Meyer in particular must be congratulated for her chameleon-like transformations from tough-talking lawyer to obeisant servant all the way to cockney workman and then marble-mouthed narrator.

Thanks to their skill and the jocular camaraderie between Stevens and Holden, the pace doesn't falter and our attention doesn't wander. Fraser Charlton and Nikolas Lloyd based their script on the 1880 discovery of the Isambard Kingdom Brunel notebooks and his ideas for a space-craft, and it is excellent. Well-crafted comically and subtle in its detail, the banter is sustained and also boasts some truly inspired moments; most notably perhaps, the cricket game commentary concerned only with the level of hat doffing skill on display and the revelation that the sixth moon of Jupiter is in fact named New Basingstoke.

There are times when one feels the sound effects would be more appropriate to an aerobics class, and the stage feels a little under-used because of the sparse set and the frequent scene changes. But the fabulous spacecraft control panel, complete with blinking lights and moving dials, more than makes up for these details. Quite frankly, given the subject-matter, the more that is left to the imagination the better. Supported by wonderfully melodramatic lighting and some witty props, the cast is able to evoke an extraterrestrial gentlemen's club with the same ease as a Liverpool office or an alternative cricket pitch. Even the notion of a tea tanker seems momentarily probable. This comedy handful is ideal as a late show, and despite the prohibition of "ladies" and "persons of a French nature" on their publicity, it is eminently suitable for all the family. Have a few drinks first though, and don't expect high art.