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Having loved Absurd Person Singular and especially the fine playing of a company truly at home with his work, it came as a shock to dislike the new play Surprises quite so much. After a clunky and cliched first act the play certainly improved in the second, but was finally let down by the third. Much of the problem was with setting the pice in a future that was so poorly let down by a poor set. It looked like a child’s vision of the future from 1956, it was about as futuristic as The Jetsons, no, that was better. One has come to expect so much from Chichester in terms of production values and excellence of design and this co-production with the Stephen Joseph Theater simply does not cut it. All this said, credit must be given where due and Richard Stacey’s portrayal of the android Jan is superb and the rest of this multi role playing company do the best they can with a dull and somewhat contrived plot, if one can call it a plot. How I wanted to be back in 1970’s suburbia with Ayckbourn at his best.

Chichester Festival Minerva Theatre

!3 August

Andrew Kay 1 star

Alan Ayckbourn’s classic is deliver at Chichester with a brio and confidence that underpins his place as one of the great British comedy playwrights. He takes the comic convention of farce but manages to instill it with a deep sense of bitterness and a bleak portrait of the human condition. Set in the 1970s, period is irrelevant, this could be now, tomorrow even. The cast are superb, seasoned players in his company, and they certainly know how to deliver his pithy dialogue making the very most of every word, every snort and every sneer. Layering comedy over despair is what he does best and this is Ayckbourn at his best.

Chichester Festival MInerva Theatre

13 August

Andrew Kay

5 stars

On paper this looked like an odd marriage. Julian Lloyd Webber and the WSO are fine but where does a sports commentator come in? In the end it was a stroke of genius. The capacity audience witnessed an evening of sublime brilliance, both the orchestra and Webber (cello concerto by Delius) delivering a cacophony of music that was genuinely moving and used the world class acoustics to its maximum. John Inverdale top and tailed the evening, the latter piece (a narration of a piece by Benjamin Britten) describing the differing parts of the orchestra, augmented by the orchestra. And all subtly conducted by John Gibbons. BRAVO!

Assembly Hall, Worthing, 9 January 2012
Rating:
Lee Stevens

The reigning comedy queen of Brighton Zoe Lyon was in formidable form compering Bent Double, displaying her impeccable talent for sharp and spontaneous jokes.

The first of three acts on show started a little disappointingly with Julie Jepson, who looked desperate for a laugh whilst checking her watch every 10 seconds. Things improved considerably with Claire Parker, transsexual comic in-chief, who never fails to provide a laugh at the expense of our own preconceptions. Final act The Raymond & Mr Timpkin Revue stole the show with their slapstick, yet meticulously thought-out set of word play, set to every song ever written. I was crying with laughter from start ’til finish.

Komedia, 8 January 2012
Rating:
Woodrow Whyte