Money Trouble

Money Trouble
Comedy
Director: Andrus Vaarik
Author: Michael Cooney
Translator: Hannes Villemson
Set designer: Andrus Jõhvik
Costume designer: Marta Vaarik
Lighting designer: Karmen Tellisaar
Music designer: Reigo Ahven
Cast: Nils Mattias Steinberg, Triin Brigitta Heidov, Mauri Liiv, Priit Loog, Enn Keerd, Astra Irene Susi, Kleer Maibaum, Andrus Vaarik, Carmen Mikiver, Kati Ong

For two years, unemployed homeowner Eric Swan has been defrauding the social services agency, claiming all kinds of benefits in the names of fictitious tenants. As the daily flood of cheques, slips and forms for family, child, single-parent, housing, maternity, large-family and widow’s benefits; old-age and disability pensions; caregiver and holiday pay; and Christmas and workplace accident compensation—and his army of invented identities—starts to overwhelm him, Eric decides to put an end to the fraud. But just then, a social services officer turns up needing the signature of a tenant who does not exist. A perfectly ordinary October morning at number 344 Chilton Road, in rainy East London, descends into a whirlwind of mistaken identities, costume changes, misunderstandings and ever more outrageous lies.

In the old days, it was quite common for actors who had made their name in Pärnu to go on to shine on the capital’s stages, and it was not unusual for stars from the capital to come and work for a while at the theatre in the resort town. In fact, that still happens today, but the old custom of staging the same plays in every theatre has almost entirely disappeared. All the more reason to celebrate that, for Endla Teater’s 115th anniversary, Andrus Vaarik—who came to Pärnu a few years ago to “make it”—is bringing a new version of the most successful comedy of his directing career to the stage here.