Absurd
Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn,
Directed
by Yvonne Maxwell
6th-10th
March 2007
If you didn’t catch this show, you missed a treat. The ingeniously built set immediately transported us back 30 years to the era of fondue sets and the Kenwood Multichef. The first act, a behind the scenes look at a Christmas party, hosted by Sidney and Jane Hopcroft (Mark Williams and Val Cockayne), is set in their shabby but spotlessly clean kitchen. Punctilious Sidney and mousy Jane, resplendent in her pinny and slippers, nervously await their guests. First to arrive are Ronald and Marion Brewster-Wright, the Hopcroft’s bank manager and his wife, (Peter Sawyer and Colleen Tudway). Next is Eva Jackson, (Abi Tester) depressed and worried about everything. Lastly we meet Geoffrey, (Tim Proctor), Eva’s husband, an architect, a smooth talking, lascivious letch.
A swift change of scenery, efficiently undertaken by Steve Lambell and his backstage crew, and we are whisked forward a year through time to the kitchen of the Jacksons. A pyjama clad Eva is slumped at the table composing a suicide note. All her attempts to end it all are foiled slickly and inadvertently by Jane, Sidney, a cringingly inept Ronald and a delightfully squiffy Marion. Towards the end I began to think that maybe Eva was trying to go to a better place to avoid the singing in the oven.
Another
amazing scene change and yet another year on, we are in the freezing kitchen of
the Brewster-Wrights. Marion has taken to her bed and Ronald is left to fend for
himself. You could feel the chill in the auditorium. Eva and Geoffrey drop by
and surprise, surprise Marion joins them, called downstairs by the chinking of
glasses. When the doorbell rings and Eva sees that it’s Sidney and Jane outside,
panic ensues. Enter the obnoxiously cheerful Hopcrofts.
The delightfully talented cast, who were obviously enjoying themselves as much as the audience and the combined skills of our technical teams, both backstage and in the sound and lighting box, came together to make this an absolutely wonderful evenings entertainment. The costumes were perfect for the characters but where were the platform shoes? The perfect setting for a wonderfully timed farce, slickly and professionally carried out, was a joy to witness. Well done everyone.
Frances Lord