COMIC POTENTIAL

Writtle Cards at the Village Hall

03.03.09

Well, I would never have guessed it was by Ayckbourn. Miles outside his comfort zone, it's a dark philosophical , romantic comedy which attracted some great reviews a decade ago in the West End and on Broadway.

We're asked to imagine a future when robots [aka actoids] churn out daytime soaps. An idealistic young writer [Ben Fraser], nephew of the studio's owner, is smitten by one such drone [Elaine Reynolds, consistently charming in a huge role], teaches her the double-take and the custard pie, and grooms her for stardom.

The whole thing needs a deal of style to overcome gaps in logic; the second act, despite the frequent scene changes, was more enjoyably farcical.

The most believable character here was the over-the-hill movie director, nicely played by Neil Smith. He was too young for the part, but his rambling reminiscence of his glory days was beautifully done. I liked the two “shrews” who seemed to be the only crew [Sharon Goodwin and Clare Williams], and there were accomplished cameos from Jean Speller as an older actoid and a trollope, and from the talented, always watchable Daniel Curley as waiter, desk clerk and the mute Uncle, with an elegant Michele Moody as his mouthpiece. Andy Millward was an amusing faulty actoid, Shelley Goodwin did what she could with an injured actoid and the boutique assistant, and Liz Curley got the custard pie as man-hungry executive Carla Pepperbloom.

More care could have been taken with the music and the programme, but I liked the pin-ups around the auditorium: Buster Keaton, C3PO, Wall-E …

Overlong, not as confident or snappy as it needed to be, but still an interesting revival of a rare Ayckbourn. It was directed by Sarah Wilson, and produced by Nick Caton.

Improbable Fiction

Marlborough Theatre Group

Jim Hutchon was at Brentwood School

20thFebruary 2010

This latest Ayckbourn play is curious piece of work as there is little internal logic to the narrative. That said, coming from such a master pen, the result is a very funny and enjoyable scrutiny of personalities. The theme is a writer’s circle for writers who haven’t, and probably never will, finish their works. Chairman of the group (because he has the biggest house) is Arnold, played with slightly bemused efficiency by Martin Goldstone. Jess Bales is a forceful failed period romantic writer and farmer lesbian who gets some of the best of Ayckbourn’s acerbic humour, which she delivers with great comic timing. Children’s stories are the province of Grace Sims (Sheila Boar), and detective novels, the expertise of Vivvi, played with ebullience by Jackie Young. A withdrawn and hooded Clem is the sci-fi conspiracy expert, brought out in a darkly secret way by Graham Poultney. Brevis Winterton (Duncan Hopgood) is a blustering song writer with no lyrics and a weak bladder, and – sanest and most normal of all is the mother’s help, Ilsa, play by Louise Bridgeman.

After a typical Ayckbourn committee meeting of no consequence, but during which each of the authors gives an idea of their work in progress, the meeting breaks up. Then things kick off. For no apparent reason, the authors return as their inventions, and act out parts of their stories to the mystified Arnold. Ilsa becomes a murdering Victorian, Jess, a Jane Austen narrator, Brevis, an alien eliminator and – best transformation of all, Clem becomes an Edgar Wallace detective, with Vivvi as his ultra-sensitive bag carrier. There is further interchanging of roles, and it is clear that all the cast had a hugely enjoyable time chopping and changing. But all stayed strictly as convincing characters within whatever role they were playing, and despite lack of such things as plot or narrative drive, this was an evening of theatre to savour.