THE SAFARI PARTY. To 14 May.
Manchester
THE SAFARI PARTY
by Tim Firth
Library Theatre To 14 May 2005
Mon-Thu 7.30pm Fri-Sat 8pm Mat 7, 11, 14 May 3pm
Audio-described 11 May 7.30pm 14 May 3pm
Captioned 10 May
Pre-show talk 7 May 3pm performance
Runs 2hr 10min Two intervals
TICKETS: 0161 236 7110
www.librarytheatre.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 4 May
Brisk yet kindly comedy sparkles in a fine production.First seen in Scarborough, Tim Firth's Cheshire-set comedy finds a natural home in Manchester. After all, there's nothing the true Mancunian prefers, on a day off from abusing Yorkshire people, than having a go at the Cheshire Set.
These are the people who live in rural Cheshire, wheeling themselves in four x four vehicles to enjoy Manchester culture before retreating to the bijou towns and villages of North-West England's gin-and-tonic stockbroker belt.
If this reads like an offensively prejudicial view, stay away from Firth's play about the alleged local custom of the title, a meal taken course by course in different homes. Roger Haines production of a revised script seems sharper than the original appeared on the east coast. Not that its bite is as vicious as its comic bark.
Incomer pretentiousness and antique shop profiteering are in Firth's sights. Rural poverty leads brothers Daniel and Adam to mislead new arrivals about rural traditions, but it takes professional dealer Inge to load on the lies and lard on the pounds when she sells their family table to rich new arrivals Lol and Esther.
Lol (Claude Close appearing on the rim of a coronary throughout) is the splenetic character directing his inner anger outwards to match Gordon in Firth's stage debut Neville's Island. Sue Wallace, dressed in flouncy materials and an impression-making smile, plays Esther closer to parody than any other character comes.
But she, and Haines, are not taking the easy option; the last act is surprisingly moving in showing her vulnerability. It's here, as so often at denouements, the comedy wears thinner. Inge, less well established as a character and absent throughout the second act's hilarity, remains a playwright's sentimental device - something Jenifer Armitage's stolid performance does not override.
Lindsay Allen's Bridget, unencumbered with Lol and Esther's pretensions, gives the young character a fresh, sharp wit (and a lot of smiling for someone so unhappy being dragged with mum and dad), while David Partridge as the main chancer and Drew Mulligan as the more anxious branch of the local farming family suitably mix sympathy and humour.
Haines is at his expert best with the comedy (Firth is one of the few Ayckbourn protegees to match the master's comic touches). And he steers clearly to the play's soft-centre version of Ibsen's point in The Wild Duck, that a few illusions can be very useful in making lives flow more smoothly.
Daniel: Drew Mulligan
Adam: David Partridge
Lol: Claude Close
Bridget: Lindsay Allen
Esther: Sue Wallace
Inga: Jenifer Armitage
Director: Roger Haines
Designer: Judith Croft
Lighting: Nick Richings
Sound: Paul Gregory
Dialect coach: Sally Hague
2005-05-05 16:18:15