A Foot In The Door – Keighley Playhouse

AFTER THE first half of Keighley Playhouses latest offering, A Foot In The Door by Richard Harris, I wondered what I’d seen.

Over the 45 minutes of act one, three ‘by the book’ salespersons tried to sell their wares to an old lady; played excellently by Deborah Mouat.

Mike Boothroyd, director and stand-in for an ill actor, started the play as the nervous salesman trying to sell wardrobes, and was a perfect foil to the security system salesman played with great gusto by Kevin Moore.

To add to the confusion came the Polish decorator and his ‘assistant’, and an organ saleslady who constantly played the ‘sympathy card’ and accused sex appeal, played with great fun by Dale Chadwick, Laura Campbell and Lynne Howell respectively.

But why was it happening and where was it going? There were a few laughs in the first half, but not as many as I would expect for a comedy.

And then the second half started and bang, every set-up from act one was hit with perfection, and the laughs came thick and fast, building to the unexpected finale.

Overall it was a well-staged, well-acted piece which I really enjoyed, but I don’t know why. It was well worth a night out so long as you didn’t judge it by the first half.

Phil Smith