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Break down into laughter
Absent Friends
Derby Theatre
**** ONE of the lesser known of Ayckbourn’s
seventy plus plays, London Classic Theatre Company have revived this gem
as a 1970’s period piece, rather than attempt to update it. First performed in
1974, it plays in real time as a claustrophobic relationship drama,
classic Ayckbourn , in a format which found its apogee in Mike Leigh’s
Abigail’s Party. The neurosis will be
familiar to all devotees of contemporaneous comedies
Fawlty Towers
and Rising Damp. The plot unfolds in the lounge of Diana and
Paul’s executive house, at a party organised to cheer up Colin, whose
fiancée has recently drowned. However it is the lives of the enthusiastic, and
less than enthusiastic, party givers which come under scrutiny, rather
than that of the bereaved Colin. Colin, nerdy and oblivious to the chaos around
him, is confidently and pleasingly played by Ashley Cook. Even before he
arrives, relationships are being tested and imploding. Diana, played by Catherine Harvey with engaging
wit, convinces, as she systematically unravels before us. The brooding ,
frustrated Evelyn (Kathryn Ritchie) endures her inept, restless husband,
John (John Dorney) with bored stoicism, even when confronted by Diana
who is convinced she is having an affair with her bully of a husband
Paul (Kevin Drury) ,who bears an uncanny resemblance to the politician
Iain Duncan Smith. Director Michael Cabot handles Ayckbourn adroitly
with a well- paced production which overcomes the inevitable stasis of
the setting. Our awkwardness with death underpins the narrative of the
play, illuminated by the juxtaposition of the bereaved but seemingly
ebullient Colin who exposes the fault lines in the lives of those around
him as he explores love, almost as a narrator. The absent friend, Gordon, husband to the fretful
Marge ( Alice Selwyn), who is indisposed, hovers throughout. Selwyn is
wonderful in her supporting role, as awkward in her newly purchased
shoes as she is in saying the wrong thing. The simple single set evokes the 70s with
painstaking precision, the comedy is spiky, sometimes uncomfortable, but
often laugh out loud. This is a satisfying revival which will please all
Ayckbourn fans as much as it did when first performed some forty one
years ago. To 11-07-15 Gary Longden
08-07-15
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