Relatively Speaking

There are moments when, for every intellectually challenging or innovative piece of theatre you see a classic comedy is just the thing and Ayckbourn’s drama of mis-identity crashing into chaos is the answer. The plot is perhaps simplistic but it is his ability to identify the frailty of the human condition and deliver it in dialogue that seldom strays from the naturalistic that raises it above lesser work.
Of course this is equally dependent on the quality of performance. Here we had a talented cast that made the evening seamlessly funny. Robert Powell never fails to deliver a convincing performance, from the dry and dark satire of Charles III to the light comedy of Ayckbourn he nails it. Lisa Goddard is joyous as the dippy and yet knowing housewife and is mistress of the wistful expression. Lindsay Campbell handles the role of the sexually duplicitous young woman with style and confidence but has fewer laughs than the rest of the cast which of course makes her appropriately less likeable than here naive lover. Antony Eden delivers this role with a lightness of touch that makes him the focus of all our sympathies and it is not only his superb delivery of those lines but also the gently humorous physicality that he brings to the role, every move of his body and facial tick is a measured vehicle for his comedic skills.
This is Ayckbourn delivered with both style and skill by a cast that have the talent to milk every last twist and laugh from this simple farce.
6 September
Theatre Royal Brighton
Andrew Kay
4 stars