Confusions

CONFUSIONS by Alan Ayckbourn is a series of four short comedies linked by their characters in differing situation: a lonely mother of small children, a salesman forcing his attention on a pair of reluctant women, two bickering couples at a restaurant and finally mayhem when efforts to organise a village fete descends into chaos as everything that could go wrong, does go wrong!  It’s a mixture of humour and pathos, combining laughter and tears.  

The set changed from a house to a hotel bar and then restaurant and finally a village tea tent. The sets were practical and the tea tent was well recreated complete with flags and malfunctioning tea urn!  The props were realistic and well used.  

The costumes were in keeping with the story. There was great attention to detail with a tired looking mum, dinner guests dressed to the nines and fabulous baggy shorts for Stewart in Gosforth’s Fete. 

The lighting was good and well controlled throughout. The sound was excellent with good use of the sound system for the ‘inadvertently overheard’ conversation in Gosforth’s Fete. 

With a good ensemble cast (with some taking on more than one role), the play is full of discussions and disagreements and typical Ayckbourn observation of human behaviour. There were some nicely judged performances and everyone was confident and comfortable with their roles. The acting from all members of the cast was realistic and emotional. There were exceptional performances from Bill Hansell who had great physical comedy and moved smoothly from creepy Harry (Drinking Companions) to bumptious Gosforth, and Sarah Lee and Gerry Mills were great sparring partners in Between Mouthfuls. This was an excellent example of ensemble acting and superb technical support, particularly creating the chaos of Gosforth’s Fete which was executed with great timing and energy.  

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