MAN OF THE MOMENT To 15 August.
Northampton.
MAN OF THE MOMENT
by Alan Ayckbourn.
Royal & Derngate (Royal Theatre) To 15 August 2009.
Mon-Sat 7.45pm mat Thu 2.30pm & Sat 2pm.
Audio-described 4 Aug.
BSL Signed 5 Aug.
Runs 2hr 50min One interval.
TICKETS: 01604 624811.
www.royalandderngate.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 30 July.
A Moment that has the power of endurance.
Coincidentally, the night after seeing In Bed With Messalina, Benjamin Askew’s attack on celebrity obsession, Alan Ayckbourn’s revival of his similarly-themed comedy opened in Northampton. Messalina looks back 20 centuries to make its point. Man of the Moment dates from just 21 years ago and now seems a more thoughtful comedy than ever.
Douglas Beechey is “suburban blandness” personified. Yet under his serene exterior anxieties emerge, though he doesn’t think of them much. He’s contented, and Kim Wall, rubicund and cheerful, makes this “well-balanced” person dignified yet amusing.
He frustrates TV presenter Jill Rillington who’s brought Douglas to Spain to meet the bank-robber he tackled seventeen years ago and can’t provoke him to a murmur of ‘good television’ discontent. Douglas was a momentary hero, while media-friendly robber Vic Parks later hosted TV programmes for children and adults.
Vic’s pleasant while people agree with him, a point first made by second wife Trudy, left sitting alone while the TV gang huddle together. Half-collapsing at shoulders and knees, Laura Doddington’s initially embarrassed Trudy slowly finds her moral strength. Meanwhile, as he drinks, Vic’s underlying character emerges when he’s challenged by people he considers should do as they’re told, leading to an outcome where Ayckbourn has audiences laughing wildly at tragic events while eliding TV and theatre realities - just after he’s shown TV getting ‘reality’ seriously wrong.
Before this there’s a beautiful night scene (literally beautiful, with evening lights illuminating the villa and swimming-pool and music soft in the background) where Douglas tells Trudy, the other honest character, the complexities behind his have-a-go act: everything Jill’s been unable to find out.
Malcolm Sinclair pinpoints the progressive revelations of Vic’s nature, from forceful bonhomie through force of personality to sheer bullying; he’s someone more bound by his temperament than the mild-mannered Douglas. Ruth Gibson sometimes overdoes the TV presenter’s falseness, without hiding that these media folk are as fascinated by their own world as Douglas is with life in Purley.
Christopher Harper’s well-judged as Vic’s yes-man manager with his own camp-edged disenchantment and there’s fine playing everywhere else in this major Ayckbourn production.
Ashley: Matthew Cottle.
Ruy: Michael Davies.
Trudy: Laura Doddington.
Jill: Ruth Gibson.
Kenny: Christopher Harper.
Douglas: Kim Wall.
Sharon: Haz Webb.
Vic: Malcolm Sinclair.
Marta: Sue Whyte.
Cindy: Holly Castle/Robyn Wilson.
Doubles:
Vic: Gavin Harrison.
Trudy: Katie Hill.
Douglas: Simon Kemp.
Marta: Susan Ward.
Sharon: Claire Waring.
Ruy: Charlie Woodford.
Kenny: Josh Woodford.
Director: Alan Ayckbourn.
Designer: Michael Holt.
Lighting: James Farncombe.
Sound: Paul Arditti.
2009-07-31 13:33:13