If I Were You

Alan Ayckbourn presents an unhappily married couple in If I Were You who suddenly get the chance to understand each other by literally swapping bodies, hence the title. Jill is a home maker with one child: Chrissie, grown up and left home with a young family of her own, and Mal works in an anonymous large household department store with sections such as bedding and bathrooms and kitchens. Their teenage son Sam is close to his mother and at odds with his father, and Chrissie’s husband Dean who works with Mal completes the five cast.

Karinn Grierson, the queen of accents with a northern accent here, is lovely as the mum Jill who has lost her sense of self and all her self-esteem staying at home being isolated and not treated well by her husband Mal. She portrays that sense of utter defeat and occasional passive aggressive barb well. Paul Davey has a tough job as the very unlikeable Mal who treats his wife and son so poorly, thinks his son should be “more of a man” in stereotypical terms, and thinks the sun shines out of his smarmy and detestable son-in-law Dean. Paul plays this full on which is lovely, not shirking from the unpleasant traits such as Mal having an affair with a quite demanding Trixie (never seen) who he speaks to frequently on the phone. The phone calls are performed very well, from both these actors, giving time for the other person to speak – perhaps a simple thing, but so easy to rush and get wrong. Korey Grierson, playing son to his real life mum, is completely believable as the son Sam who so longs to act and has got a part in a Shakespeare play, which his father says is not allowed because it isn’t “manly”. Chrissie is played with sensitivity by Emily Rawlinson and Stuart Lawson plays her husband Dean very well: it’s a pleasure to see these characters played for real with believability, rather than descending into the obvious stereotypes of the battered wife and abusive yet charming husband. That said, there didn’t appear to be the power imbalance that is obvious in those styles of relationships, even a subtle one. There was a lovely connection between mum and daughter and son; but not wider, even a disrupted connection would have been nice to see. Faster pace in some sections would also have been a benefit and added more humour: quicker return on lines.

The second act where Jill and Mal swap bodies, so Karinn plays Mal and Paul plays Jill, is where the comedy really kicks off. Paul plays Jill incredibly well, and is hilariously funny; and Karinn plays Mal really well too. It’s seamless and believable and the audience laps it up. The scene where Karinn as Mal is trying to ‘fix’ the vacuum only for Chrissie to point out that all it needs is emptying as it’s full is really funny, as is Paul as Jill organising a flower collection for one of his work colleagues whose wife has had a baby. Paul as Jill seems to be solving all the problems belligerent Mal exacerbates, by (Paul as Jill) simply using respectful communication. The two most satisfying scenes are Paul as Jill in Mal’s body ending the affair with his mistress on the phone, and Karinn as Paul in Jill’s body punching Dean onto the sofa. Sam running to his ‘dad’ to tell him “Mum punched Dean” and Paul’s perfectly delivered “I thought she might” is the funniest line in the play. Karinn has worked on sitting with a wide leg stance as a man and Paul changes his physicality completely as they play opposite roles. Karinn putting makeup on as Mal in Jill’s body was also really funny. The counting sheep swap at the end is done beautifully.

The set is creative, with the three spaces in their house as the kitchen, living room and bedroom, and they all keep to whichever door they are supposed to walk in and out of really well. The working lights above the kitchen island are a lovely touch. However the living room door is quite far over into the kitchen which means people coming in and out of it almost have to squeeze past the people in the kitchen which breaks the illusion somewhat. The tilted up bed is really well done, meaning the audience could see properly. More companies should copy this. The intersecting scenes between home and Mal’s work are done very well, using subtle lighting changes and background ‘lift’ music for the department store. All the props work well, so lovely to see actors actually eating rather than miming food.

There are issues with the play however, which has not aged well: even though it was written in 2006 it comes across as written in the 1970s. It takes a whole act of scene setting which is very long for the audience. The scenes with the women are quite jarring as having been written by a man who thinks he knows what women talk about when they are alone but clearly has no clue. It’s incredibly old fashioned compared with today and when presented as today, the gender stereotyping is infuriating. Mal only accepts his son doing Shakespeare when it’s clear that Sam has a crush on his female teacher, so suddenly he is accepted because Mal was worried he was gay. It’s 1970s and 1980s dated sit-com territory. However, the point about having to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes to make you suddenly empathise and feel for them, understanding them in a way that makes them closer than the miles apart they started out, is a good one. The delivery of the play was done very well, with funny moments, and a chance for the whole team to put on a lovely show.

 

Susanne Crosby

 

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