Film & Theatre, Reviews | Posted on October 19th, 2026 | return to news

REVIEW: Kind Hearts and Coronets, Wimborne Drama Productions, Tivoli Theatre

By Marilyn Barber

Made famous by the 1940s Ealing comedy film, this story of Archie Gascoyne-Williams who plans to murder six of his relatives in order to accede to an earldom was always going to be a difficult one to stage as it requires multiple scenes.

The only way round it was instead of scenery to have filmed backcloths depicting stately homes, churches and grand sitting rooms, with items of furniture being moved onto the stage as required.
And on the whole it worked pretty well, giving the audience the required sense of grandeur that Archie aspired to.

It was a huge lead role for James Riley who was on stage all of the time, and he depicted the rascally would-be Earl with just the right amount of sang-froid with a measure of menace. He also interacted well with the audience.

There was great characterisation from Sam Moulton who had to portray all the prospective heirs in a variety of different guises, which were so good it was hard to believe it was the same actor.

James Tyrall put in a spirited performance as Archie’s love rival Lionel, as did Nicole Wyatt in her first acting role with the group as the objects of his affections.

Cameron Elliot was confident as Archie’s friend Grahame.

Malachi Pike, David Beddard-Banks, Colin Pile, Kira Bradford, Trish Ruff, Charlie Cash and Natasha Galton each had multiple roles that required them to assume a wide variety of identities which they did with aplomb.

Once again this company has proved it isn’t afraid to tackle a challenging play, so plaudits to director Michelle Barter who spent 20 years as a theatre professional before joining the company a decade ago.