When you think of an Alan Ayckbourn play, a tragi-comedy set at a tea party, at a fringe venue overlooking a pond, you set yourself up for a lovely evening of theatre. And the theatre was indeed lovely, a beautiful exterior with an intimate performance space, but the venue is about the only thing that the show got right.
Diana (Polly Smith) invites friends over for a tea party, after their long-lost friend, Colin Thomas Willshire), is supposedly grieving the death of his fiance. Tension is evident between and within the couples; Evelyn (Liv Koplick) has been sleeping with Diana’s husband, Paul (Eoin Lynch). Evelyn’s husband, John (Kieran Seabrook-France) is aware of this but doesn’t say anything; he is in business with Paul. Marge (Bridget Lambert) unsuccessfully attempts to maintain the calm in the group, as her ailing husband keeps ringing her ever so often. When Colin arrives, he is surprisingly cheery and his attempt to cheer everyone else up only pushes them to their breaking points.
While the storyline seems like it has a good arc with heightened moments of dramatic tension, the writing, in truth, it greatly disappoints. The dialogue did not just spoon feed the audience with information but shoved it down our throats. Jokes made by a character were often explained by another. It felt disrespectful as an audience member to be treated this way. Taking off the writing style, the acting felt overly articulate and ingenuine. Whether this slapstick-ish approach was a choice by director-producer Claire Evans is unknown, but it definitely did not serve the purpose. In the crescendo scene, everyone was trying to be funny all at once, but nothing was funny. I could have left in the interval and not really missed anything.
The simple but effective light design shone light (literally and metaphorically) on the vibrant set. Unfortunately, when there isn’t much else to the show, the lights can’t salvage it.
The marketing copy for the show reads, ‘Ayckbourn is the master at laying bare human nature…’ but the characters in this play seem more toy-like than human, with one heightened trait each. The nuances of their experiences and emotions are ignored and they feel far from being well-rounded.
Everything said and done, the show did elicit a fair share of laughs from most of the audience. The dry British humour reigns.
Absent Friends is running at the OSO Arts Centre until 27th May 2023. Tickets can be found at https://osoarts.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173640971
Reviewer: Aditi Dalal
Reviewed: 23rd March 2023
North West End UK Rating: