Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense
The plot revolves around Bertie Wooster deciding to stage a one-man show revolving around his recent experiences at a country house called Totleigh Towers (the events of The Code of the Woosters), only to discover, as he is starting the show, that he needs help to tell the story. He enlists his valet Jeeves to assist on very short notice, though Jeeves anticipated that Bertie would need help and has prepared some scenery. Jeeves has also asked Seppings, the butler of Bertie's aunt, to help stage the production. Problems arise both in the story Bertie is narrating and the play as it is being performed, and Jeeves intervenes to make sure all ends well. In addition to narrating, Bertie plays himself in the story. Jeeves and Seppings each play multiple characters. In addition to playing himself, Jeeves plays Sir Watkyn Bassett, an imposing silver-collector who, as a magistrate, once fined Bertie five pounds for stealing a policeman's helmet as a prank; Madeline Bassett, Sir Watkyn's excessively sentimental daughter; Gussie Fink-Nottle, a shy young man who studies newts and is engaged to Madeline; and Stiffy Byng, the scheming ward and niece of Sir Watkyn Bassett. Seppings plays himself as well as Bertie's Aunt Dahlia, the genial, loud-voiced woman who employs Seppings; Roderick Spode, a crony of Bassett and aspiring dictator; Constable Oates, the local policeman who feuds with Stiffy Byng over her dog; Butterfield, the polite butler employed by Bassett; and an unnamed antique-shop proprietor who sells a cow-creamer to Bassett. In the story recounted by Bertie, Bertie's uncle, a collector of silver and rival to Sir Watkyn Bassett, has arranged to buy a silver cow-creamer, but Bassett acquires the object first by underhanded means. Bertie's Aunt Dahlia tells Bertie to go Bassett's country house, Totleigh Towers, to steal the cow-creamer. She gets Bertie to agree by threatening to withhold her brilliant chef's cooking if he refuses, though Bertie is nervous about Bassett and his intimidating associate Spode, who are both suspicious of Bertie. Meanwhile, a rift occurs between Bertie's friend Gussie and Gussie's fiancée Madeline. This puts Bertie in danger since Madeline incorrectly believes Bertie wants to marry her, and he is expected to marry her if she drops Gussie. Gussie secretly writes insults about Bassett and Spode in a notebook, but loses the notebook and worries about what will happen if they read it. Stiffy Byng schemes to get her uncle's approval to marry a penniless curate whom she loves, and to divest her enemy Constable Oates of his helmet. Despite various challenges and mishaps, Bertie manages to tell the story of his weekend at Totleigh Towers with the assistance of Jeeves and Seppings. The conflicts in Bertie's narrative are resolved and the story is concluded. Lastly, Bertie, Jeeves, and Seppings perform a comical Charleston dance routine.