A CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL. To 11 March.
Mold/Cardiff
A CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL
by Alan Ayckbourn
Clwyd Theatr Cymru (Anthony Hopkins Theatre) To 4 March
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Sat 2.30pm
Audio-described 18 Feb 2.30pm, 23 Feb
Captioned 25 Feb 2.30pm
Talkback 23 Feb, 2 March
then New Theatre Cardiff 7-11 March 2006
Tue-Sat 7.30pm Mat Thu & Sat 2.30pm
Runs 2hr 40min One interval
TICKETS: 0845 330 3565
www.clwyd-theatrcymru.co.uk (Mold)
029 2087 8889
www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk (Cardiff)
Review : Timothy Ramsden 14 February
Muted revival of a large-scale Ayckbourn as searing about amateur operatics and local corruption.
Alan Ayckbourn’s 1984 comedy about an amateur operatic group shares features with his A Small Family Business, written 2 years later. Both have large casts, and combine the middle-class comedy of his seventies work with a newly sinister, political note first sounded openly in 1981’s Way Upstream. A new barbarism accompanies the old cosy inefficiency, as the muddling middle-classes are propelled into a more ruthless future.
Chorus assembles exotic suburban sex, hard materialism under sociable relationships and Ayckbourn’s repeated pattern of a newcomer as inadvertent catalyst to an apparently settled group. Here, that’s Guy Jones, who, despite being a tall, dark stranger, enters nervously to audition for the local amateurs.
They’re rehearsing The Beggar’s Opera, John Gay’s satire on 18th century opera and politics. Guy wins a tiny role, rising through various crises to the star part. Along the way he has flings with the director’s neglected wife (Sophie-Louise Dann’s unaffected portrayal expressing Hannah’s quiet pain) and glamorous Fay (a surprising member of this dowdy troupe, whom Hannah Waddington makes as obvious as her character can be, topped with a convincing, sudden show of steel).
Terry Hands’ production relies on designer Mark Bailey’s revolving rim, which slides each scene’s necessary furnishings into view from behind a vertical screen. This remains the most obvious design element yet serves no dramatic purpose. The minimalist effect dissipates the developing action. It seemed possible at first that scenic content would increase as ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ performance approached, but no. When more scenery arrives, it’s far too little much too late.
The performances are variable. Julian Lewis Jones has over-emphatic moments within a generally unvarying performance, Victoria John is a monotonously aggressive stage-manager. Others lack distinction, though Christine Pritchard gives a fine comic edge to a character who never quite realises how embarrassing a performer she is, and Sidney Livingstone’s self-confident Jarvis is a wonderful picture of someone wrapped up in his own world. Best is Robert Blythe’s producer, wheedling or denouncing his cast, blind to others’ feelings. It’s a fine Aykbourn irony that the person overseeing the production so completely lacks any insight.
Mr Ames: David Westbrook
Bridget Baines: Victoria John
Ian Hubbard: Steven Elliott
Fay Hubbard: Hannah Waddingham
Jarvis Huntley-Pike: Sidney Livingstone
Rebecca Huntley-Pike: Christine Pritchard
Guy Jones: Julian Lewis Jones
Dafydd ap Llewellyn: Robert Blythe
Hannah Llewellyn: Sophie-Louise Dann
Crispin Usher: Kai Owen
Ted Washbrook: Simon Armstrong
Enid Washbrook: Eileen Nicholas
Linda Washbrook: Emily Pithon
Director: Terry Hands
Designer: Mark Bailey
Lighting: Terry Hands
Sound: Matthew Williams
Musical Director: David Westbrook
Dance: Rachel Catherall
Fight: Rachel Bown-Williams
2006-02-19 18:19:13