SUGAR DADDIES: till 25 October.

Scarborough/Tour

SUGAR DADDIES
by Alan Ayckbourn

Stephen Joseph Theatre To 2 August; 25 August-13 September 2003 Then tour to 25 October 2003
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Sat 2.30pm
Audio-described 11 September, 13 September 2.30pm: BSL Signed 12 September: Captioned 1 August
Follow-up 29 July
Runs 2hr 45min One interval

TICKETS: 01723 370541
Review: Timothy Ramsden 25 July

An urban fairytale of innocence and corruption, uneasily mixed with realistic elements.A couple of characters in Alan Ayckbourn's new comedy refer to the end of civilisation as we know it'. It's a theme that's fascinated him for over 20 years, apocalyptically in the soon-to-be-revived Way Upstream` more cosily in this story of a Norfolk student apparently lead astray in the wicked world of London.

As in earlier plays, things go wrong by seeming to go right. Sasha brings an injured old man dressed for some reason as Santa - back to the flat she shares with her streetwise half-sister, Chloe, whose horror at harmless old Val's appearance seems just part of her overdriven metropolitan angst.

There follows the apparent slow corruption of an innocent-abroad child by a flurry of expensive presents. Though in a sense the influence is two-way, Sasha bringing out Val's good side even as she plays up to the garishly tasteless world he imposes on her.

I don't believe it for a moment, any more than the romantic notion of the wheezy one-eyed nemesis stalking the old man. Uncle Val' seems the sort to have had a fit at Sasha's initial patronising manner, all over-expressive looks and slow, loud speech. And the trip to Covent Garden (an experience never referred to afterwards) might give a neat line about a Flying Dutchman, but the notion Val'd choose two-and-a-half hours of non-stop Wagner stretches beyond credibility.

Alison Pargeter, Ayckbourn's current favourite performer for innocent-abroad sexy youth (as Charlie Hayes is for the wised-up, self-possessed sort he might put them in a play together) does very well with each scene, but the character seems to vary. One moment the wide-eyed naivety of someone who believed in Farther Christmas till she was 11, at another coming out with a self-confident awareness of what she's doing, and, all together, seeming an authorial concept.

Rex Garner's outstanding as Val, with a voice of authority and the relaxed manner a lifetime in charge has brought. His switches to viciousness reinforce the point there's no escaping the mind's limitations. Terence Booth and Anna Brecon especially are strong as characters who mix attack and vulnerability. Booth's obsessed lawman's a crime-story legend, Brecon's fraught TV researcher an urban myth.

And there are hilarious moments as the old enemies tussle with each other and their ageing bodies, plus a story that wreaks delightful revenge on the type who hide behind mobiles and texting. But the romanticism which has positively fuelled Ayckbourn's recent children's plays, here sits uneasily with the reality of the story.

Sasha: Alison Pargeter
Val: Rex Garner
Chloe: Anna Brecon
Ashley: Terence Booth
Charmaine: Eliza Hunt

Director: Alan Ayckbourn
Designer: Roger Glossop
Lighting: Mick Hughes
Music: David Newton
Costume: Christine Wall

2003-07-29 09:49:03