SEASON'S GREETING till 11 December

Touring
SEASON'S GREETING Alan Ayckbourn
Tours till 11 December
Runs 2h 15m, one interval
Review Rod Dungate at Birmingham Rep, Monday 15 November

Not at all dated wonderfully aged and it's lost none of its bite.If you want putting off Christmas, nothing will do it better that SEASON'S GREETINGS except perhaps ABSURD PERSON SINGULAR. Ayckbourn has remarked about SG that 'I wanted to paint the rosier side of the picture.' Ah well, it's all comparative I suppose.

This really is Ayckbourn at his height.. There are some gems of one-liners and marvellous farcical climaxes, but the interest of the play lies, in the main, in the characters. In some ways they're all completely bonkers from husband Neville, obsessed with gadgetry, to 'I'm a dreadful failure' doctor Bernard, to fascist retired security man Harvey. But all of them (with the possible exception of Harvey) reveal their vulnerabilities, so that we are constantly having to reassess our views of them. We are taken on two parallel journeys by the narrative and by the emotional twists and turns.

In this production Ayckbourn seems to have toned down the nasty bullying natures of the two husbands, Neville and Eddie (Bill Champion and Jason Baughan); we get glimpses of it only, we guess at its presence the violence, insidiously, goes underground. Champion is charming while dismissive of his wife, Baughan is charming but in need of being looked after. We see in these rounded characters what their wives see.

Liza Goddard drives the play along with great energy and a personality to match. The moment when her sexual urges get the better of her is a comic highspot. Matthew Kelly's Bernard is hilariously drawn tall, light-footed, he's like some gigantic bunny-rabbit. His puppet show is as funny as it is painful. I love Alison Pargeter's Pattie in this scene: she watches the puppets with wrapt, childlike attention . . . ahhhh.

Harvey: Terence Booth
Bernard: Matthew Kelly
Belinda : Liza Goddard
Pattie: Alison Pargeter
Neville: Bill Champion
Eddie: Jason Baughan
Rachel: Alexandra Mathie
Phyllis: Eliza Hunt
Clive: Matthew Cottle

Director: Alan Ayckbourn
Set Designer: Roger Glossop
Lighting Designer: Mick Hughes
Costume Designer: Christine Wall
Music Composer: Denis King
Associate Designer: Pip Leckenry
Sound Designer: Dan Last

Tours to:
Birmingham/ Plymouth/ Bath/ Malvern

2004-11-16 17:17:29