How the Other Half Loves

The Waterbeach Theatre Company’s production of Alan Ayckbourn’s "How the Other Half Loves" was a delightful comedic play. The narrative follows the confusion that ensues between three couples and a secret love affair between one member of two of the couples.

This play thrived on its ingenious setting, which serves as the simultaneous living arrangements of two of the couples. The set was particularly impressive, featuring a fully enclosed living room with four different exits, adorned with bold circular brown, and orange wallpaper patterns that immediately signalled the 1970s setting. The attention to detail was exceptional, from the heavy dark walnut double doors to the bookcase and from the dado rails to the skirting boards. Nothing was overlooked, resulting in a highly professional-looking set. Hats off to Mark Easterfield, Chris Shinn and crew for the set design and construction.

As the show opened, we were introduced to Frank (David Moat) and Fiona Foster (Christine Easterfield), as well as Bob (Chas Barclay) and Theresa Phillips (May Withers). Both couples were in their respective living rooms but utilizing the same physical space. The only distinction was which doors they entered and exited, as well as which telephone they picked up, signifying which house they were in—a clever method of setting the action that supported the script. Some of the dialogue was made funnier by the interplay between one couple's conversation interspersed with the other couple's conversation.

Each act was split in half, with a brief curtain close to change the set: in act one, from a living room to a dining room. The first scene revealed that Fiona and Bob were clearly having an affair, but to cover it up, they introduced their alibis of being out with someone else, in the form of another couple, William (Steve Kennett) and Mary Featherstone (Wendy Croft).

The second scene saw William and Mary invited to dinner at each house. This was a stagecraft masterpiece—a T-shaped dining table with one length of the T representing one house and the other representing the second house. William and Mary sat at the intersection of the T shape, alternating conversation seamlessly between the two houses until the end of the scene, where William had water thrown over him in one house, and realised he was sitting under the toilet which was leaking in the other house—a funny end to the act.

This production relied heavily on the timing of lines and movements, given that the setting portrayed one house as two different houses. Vicki Hingley has done a fantastic job in directing this, and the entire cast delivered outstanding performances. I was particularly impressed by Wendy Croft, whose character was perhaps the most silent but whose facial expressions  were superbly appropriate. Equally impressive was David Moat as Frank, whose character was perhaps ex-military, yet his performance was delightfully natural.

I thoroughly enjoyed this production and all the subtle interactions between the three couples. Very well done to everyone involved.

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