BEDROOM FARCE at the The Mill at Sonning
โ โ โ โ
โthis vibrant revival offers many laugh-out-loud momentsโ
Based on a real-life incident in the authorโs Stephen Joseph Theatre company in Scarborough, the comedy is set over the course of one Saturday night/Sunday morning in three different bedrooms. Wisely the director (Robin Herford, a stalwart of The Mill and an active member of Ayckbournโs Scarborough based company, for just over a decade, earlier in his career) and designer (Michael Holt) have firmly set the show in the mid-1970s. Some of the language used, attitudes and relationships portrayed are decidedly โof their timeโ, although have the ring of truth still.
Three married couples, linked together with a fourth, by family, friendship and past relationships, ready themselves for an evening of enjoyment. The show opens with Ernest (Stuart Fox), obsessed with the damp patch in the spare room, and Delia (Julia Hills) dressing for an anniversary meal at their favourite restaurant. They consider themselves โregulars as they go every yearโ. Delia wants to talk about their son Trevor (Ben Porter) and the โbedroom problemsโ he is having with his wife, the โentirely unsuitableโ, Susannah (Allie Croker). Both of whom are on the guest list for prankster newlyweds, Malcolm (Antony Eden) and Kateโs (Rhiannon Handy) housewarming party that night. As are Jan (Georgia Burnell), the โmuch more suitableโ former partner of Trevor and Nick (Damien Matthews), her now husband.
Amidst the laughter there is exploration of what it means to be a married couple, the potential for infidelity and what a wife might expect to have to do to make a marriage work or the sensitivity of a husbandโs ego. There is also a nod to the mental health pressures and potential victimhood within a relationship more talked about and taken more seriously today, perhaps, than fifty years ago. The more pragmatic โshut-up and carry-onโ attitude of Delia contrasting with the lack of confidence and self-doubt of her daughter-in-law, who is portrayed well as a nervous, irritatingly bird-like creature, repeating her mantra of self-worth at every unobserved opportunity.
There is plenty of good physical comedy too. Largely around Nickโs incapacity due to a โwrecked backโ meaning he remains at home alone in bed whilst Jan attends the party. This is added to through Malcolmโs attempt to prove himself, pitted against a flat-pack โsurpriseโ for his and Kateโs bedroom. The โcoats on the bedโ of the party leading to an encounter between the former lovers, on which the rest of the plot turns, having earlier provided several moments of fine comic timing from Kate, still not ready as the guests start to arrive, being buried by the dozens of coats of the unseen guests downstairs.
The linchpin of Trevor, played with appalling self-obsession, belief and lack of awareness, wrecks not only the party, by fighting with Susannah, but also the night of Nick and Jan by descending unannounced to entirely unnecessarily apologise for his earlier actions. With Suzannah seeking her mother-in-lawโs help disturbing the night of the older couple and the increasingly frenetic DIY that of the newlyweds, there is not much sleep for anyone. With Graham Weymouthโs quick and subtle lighting changes helping to shift focus across the three contrasting bedrooms on stage, the farcical element of the play alluded to in the title is enhanced well.
Ayckbourn is perhaps best known for his popular plays focused heavily on marriage in the middle classes and this vibrant revival offers many laugh-out-loud moments alongside a reassuring peek at earlier, seemingly simpler times that hints at the complications lurking below all marriages. You should see this production if you are content to laugh at yourself or those you know.
BEDROOM FARCE at the The Mill at Sonning
Reviewed on 9th August 2024
by Thomson Hall
Photography by Andreas Lambis
Previously reviewed at this venue:
THREE MEN IN A BOAT | โ โ โ | June 2024
CALENDAR GIRLS | โ โ โ โ | April 2024
HIGH SOCIETY | โ โ โ โ | December 2023
ITโS HER TURN NOW | โ โ โ | October 2023
GYPSY | โ โ โ โ โ | June 2023
TOP HAT | โ โ โ โ | November 2022
BAREFOOT IN THE PARK | โ โ โ โ | July 2022
BEDROOM FARCE
BEDROOM FARCE
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