Another outrageously funny farce from the pen of Ray Cooney, Funny Money tells how mild mannered Henry Perkins arrives home late from work having inadvertently picked up the wrong briefcase in a pub. No big deal until the case is discovered to contain hundreds of thousands of pounds which he decides to keep, fleeing to Spain with his wife. The situation is complicated by the arrival of two policemen, Henry’s two best friends and a cheeky cabby named Bill with a small but vital role to play in proceedings.

Cast in the role of Bill, the Perkins’s unlikely saviour, Jeff appeared alongside Judy Buxton, Ray Cooney, Trevor Bannister and Henry McGee in this play which was performed on board the P&O cruise ships Aurora and Oriana in 2001 together with a second Ray Cooney farce, Run For Your Wife.  The plays formed part of the on board entertainment for passengers enjoying the luxury cruises. Further details of the cruise can be found on the Run for Your Wife link on the Repertory page of this website.

Jeff and Judy are no strangers to performing on board ship having done so with a number of productions. “We are very lucky to have visited such exotic climbs while working,” said Jeff “I think one of the reasons we have been cast together on such occasions is because we are a couple. It saves on cabin space because we can double up. Either that or you have to be really good mates with whoever you share with! The ships are equipped with state of the art theatres and the only difference to performing in a normal theatre is the movement. It can be a bit tricky standing still at times but fortunately neither of us gets seasick! The audiences have always been very appreciative. I think they find the plays a pleasant change form the usual cabaret style entertainment on offer. For this cruise we did three performances of each play and they were timed so that everyone had the chance to see them irrespective of dinner sittings and port visits. It was quite hard work but we had passenger status as well so we got the best of both worlds.”