Absurd Person Singular

Alan Ayckbourn’s 1972 play, divided into three acts, documents the changing fortunes of three married couples with each act taking place at a get – together at one of the couples’ homes on successive Christmas Eves. Act 1 is set in the kitchen of Sidney and Jane Hopcroft a couple who are determined to work their way up the social and professional ladders. David Smith as Sydney gave a good performance as the socially inept working-class man whose eagerness to please those he regards as his superiors makes his house-work obsessed wife, played delightfully by Mandy Phillips, more and more nervous – her expressions in the scene where she is trying to get back into the kitchen after being stranded in the garden in the rain had the audience in gales of laughter. Act 2 is set in the kitchen of up and coming architect Geoffrey Jackson and his wife Eva. Martin Summers played the Jack-the-Lad Geoffrey with all the confidence and bravura required for the character in Acts 1 and 2, which contrasted nicely with his portrayal of the dis-spirited broken man in Act 3. Donna-Marie Leask as the depressed Eva Jackson was outstanding. In Act 2 her portrayal of a woman whose multitude of attempts at suicide were thwarted each time was hilarious, but sensitively handled, even although she didn’t utter one word! Act 3 is set in the kitchen of banker Ronald Brewster-Wright and his wife Marion. Cameron MacKenzie as Ronald played the ironic and somewhat indifferent character well. I particularly liked his reactions when electrocuted in Act 2! Stephenie Pagulayan as Marion was excellent as the snobbish stereotypical banker’s wife and her descent into alcoholism was well portrayed and added hugely to the comedy of the piece. The three sets were well designed by club member David Grieve with the use of bright orange and green units to distinguish between the modernist Act 1 and Act 2 kitchens and a more muted palate in Act 3. Costuming was appropriate to the characters and the period (I remember the flared trousers well). Congratulations to director Morag Mouat, her cast and crew for a most entertaining evening.

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