Absurd Person Singular

Three kitchens, three Christmases and three married couples combine in three acts to provide this tale of the rise and demise of different social classes.

It all kicks off with a party on Christmas Eve ('Last Christmas') at the home of Jane and Sydney  (Stuart Goodwin and Michelle Dawes) who are about to entertain what they presumably consider their social 'betters' - a bank manager and his wife, ( Phil Shaw and Sarah Stanley) and an architect and his wife among them (Richard Clarke and Lynette Coffey).  Jane is obsessed with cleaning, and both she and husband Sidney are on edge as the appointed hour of the party arrives. Of course, their well-laid plans fall apart as Jane forgets where she's put the tonic and has to go out in the pouring rain to fetch some more. In act 2 ('This Christmas') architect's wife Eva has had enough of her husband’s philandering’s and attempts to commit suicide amidst another party gathering of the same people. Finally, in 'Next Christmas' at the home of the banker and his wife, Jane and Sidney, now more prosperous, and more confident, turn up to find their hosts have no heating, and their hostess in an alcoholic stupor.

The second of the three acts are the funniest and the most absurd, largely thanks to by Lynette Coffey. During the entire act she says absolutely nothing as she tries numerous means of committing suicide. Her husband and their guests ignore her suicide notes and translate her attempts to kill herself as requests for assistance with the housework and electrical repairs which ends up with Ronald, the banker, getting an electric shock.

The six actors involved worked well together in this Alan Ayckbourn play which was superbly directed for Sutton Arts by Barrie Atchison.  With three good kitchen sets this comedy worked well on the Sutton Arts stage.

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