Review: Carry On Camping - The Marco Players

THEY queued out of the gate at Chorley Old Road Methodist Hall — and left two hours later with huge grins on their faces.

This production is a crowd-pleaser with a laugh a minute.

Peter Haslam bravely took on the job of adapting the film screenplay, and did it splendidly. He was also the producer and took a hilarious part as wide-eyed Charlie Muggins, the hapless camper.

The story sees Sid Boggle (Connor O’Beirne) and his friend Bernie Lugg (Paul Roberts) engineer a holiday to a nudist camp in the hope of tricking their prim-and-proper girlfriends Joan Fussey (Diane Pepper) and Anthea Meeks (Sharon Shaw) into showing some skin.

But the campsite turns out to be non-nudist and the girlfriends refuse to share tents with the boys.

Things hot up when a group of Chayste Place finishing school girls set up camp, under guidance of Dr Soaper (played by director Jason Crompton) and matron Miss Haggard (Laura Roberts).

This is when the famous Babs Windsor “bra scene” unfolds, during a vigorous aerobics session — Gail Costello skilfully “loses” her bra with her back to the audience and to much hilarity.

Other campers include the braying Harriet (Julie Hall) and long-suffering husband Peter (Martin Pearce).

All the actors put in a confident performance, with many echoes of the famous characters in the film, great comic timing and oodles of energy.

It was a pure joy to watch this top Bolton society take on this bit of British comedy heritage, complete with spot-on Southern accents.

The younger “set” — the schoolgirls — kept the crowd entertained and hats off to them for braving their swimming costume scene with such aplomb.

Great parts were also taken by Gareth Mabon, Mark Weatherall, Irene Smith, Gilly Blair, Ian Duckworth, Ruth Morley, Lindsay Taylor and David Holt.

A mention should also go to the props/wardrobe department, which sourced all those ’60s items, as well as the tandem, tents, and Babs’ wig.

Laugh-out-loud stuff.

Irma Heger