A CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL. To 7 August.
Scarborough
A CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL
by Alan Ayckbourn
Stephen Joseph Theatre (The Round) To 7 August 2004
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Sat 2.30pm
Audio-described 5 August
BSL Signed 6 August
Runs 2hr 40min One interval
TICKETS: 01723 370541
Review: Timothy Ramsden 3 August
A shout of approval for this revival of Ayckbourn's cunning play from 20 years ago.Set round an amateur production of The Beggar's Opera, Chorus incorporates elements from the playwright's familiar territory of miserable marriages into his (then) newer, apocalyptic, mode. Individual scenes have plenty to laugh about; together they form a savage picture of financial and sexual corruption.
Plain-named Guy Jones is the innocent abroad in this suburban moral wasteland, his naïve goodwill taking him from bit-part to star of the show. Yet he's also as disruptive as Norman in Ayckbourn's earlier Conquests trilogy.
In 1729 Gay's Beggar's Opera used criminal London to satirise the establishment; it's no coincidence this is the piece in which solicitor Dafydd ap Llewellyn (Philip York showing he can play vulnerable as well as ebullient) directs his motley crew.
The play's rich humour means some jokes barely have room to register. Like Dafydd's comments as his desperate attempt to sort out the production's lighting keeps illuminating his wife and her lover sorting out their relationship. Though his calls are ever-relevant to their behaviour, all are actually made about the lighting. Self-absorbed, Dafydd notices nothing, while the visual fun as they shift out of his spotlights mops up our attention.
Then there's the financial corruption, with plot and counterplot involving Guy. From Roger Sloman's businessman (apparently so distant from his surrounds he sits listening on a personal stereo to great machine noises of the past) and his respectable wife to younger couples, almost all are on the make. Even Billie-Claire Wright's comically exaggerated sexual advances play a part in the gain game. As for virtue, the decent, dull Washbrooks are put-upon by Dafydd and little used by Ayckbourn.
Who directs a swirling, confident production in the round, for which this play is clearly made. Bill Champion's straight guy combines confused goodwill with a passive willingness for sexual liaisons - wayward innocence in the patio jungle. Ayckbourn begins and ends with the Beggar's bravura curtain-call. First time round it leads to unexpected but compulsive silence as Guy stands deserted, despite having just been publicly hailed hero of the hour. By the end we know why in this fine, savage, funny play.
Guy Jones: Bill Champion
Dafydd ap Llewellyn: Philip York
Hannah Llewellyn: Sarah Moyle
Jarvis Huntley-Pike: Roger Sloman
Rebecca Huntley-Pike: Eliza Hunt
Ian Hubbard: Stephen Beckett
Fay Hubbard: Billie-Claire Wright
Bridget Baines: Claudia Elmirst
Ted Washbrook: Adrian McLoughlin
Enid Washbrook: Emma Gregory
Crispin Usher: Patrick Myles
Linda Washbrook: Melanie Gutteridge
Mr Ames: Denis King
Raymond Finegan: Osman Dervish
PALOS Members: Anja Rodford, Iain Winstanley
Director: Alan Ayckbourn
Designer: Michael Holt
Lighting: Jason Taylor
Musical Director: Denis King
Choreographer: Sheila Carter
Wigs: Felicite Gillham
2004-08-06 01:35:10