Plaza Suite

Neil Simon’s play covers three unrelated stories, all of which take place in Suite 719 at New York’s Plaza Hotel. Marriage, divorce, affairs, weddings and seduction is all there. 

Chris Broad-Manges’ set design was excellent. How he and his set constructors managed to transform that small stage to look like a well appointed hotel suite with bedroom and sitting room was quite amazing.

Act One: Visitor from Mamaroneck.

Margaret Bown as bored housewife Karen Nash skilfully manages to adapt the character from playful to petulant. She has come to suite 719 in the hope of re-kindling some honeymoon magic only to find she got the room and the date wrong and her husband’s secretary (played by Sarah Potter) is in the lobby with papers for him to sign. Nick Noakes as Sam Nash is delightfully obtuse. The awkward facial expressions say it all when Sam finally admits that his secretary does more than fetch files!

Act Two: Visitor from Hollywood

Smooth talking Hollywood film producer Jesse Kiplinger (Martin Arman-Addey) is in town and calls up an old childhood girlfriend for a ‘drink’ in his hotel suite. Whilst Jesse has one thing on his mind, Muriel Tate (Carol Arman-Addey) has five or six – vodka stingers that is. The laughs are there at Muriel’s drinking and again, the  facial expressions say it all while she tries to escape Jesse’s clever flirting. Jesse gives an emotional and often hilarious appraisal of how his wives have deceived him. Muriel has followed all the news about Jesse as she is desperate to escape her humdrum existence  for the glitz of Hollywood and he is desperate to escape Hollywood for a normal life. They have found each other!

Act Three: Visitor from Forest Hills.

This was the tale of parents facing an imminent wedding with a distraught daughter who had locked herself in the bathroom. The on-stage chemistry between Yvonne Hegarty (the mother, Norma Hubley) and John Thomson (the father, Roy Hubley) was a delight to watch. Again the facial expressions were perfect . This, to me, was the funniest and silliest act with the antics of the parents trying to coax their daughter Mimsey (Sarah Potter) out of the bathroom. The brief appearance of the groom Bordon Eisler (Jasper Holliday) with just a couple of words was enough for the bathroom door to be opened and the wedding to carry on.

The only character I have not mentioned previously is John Sullivan as the Bellhop and waiter who gave admirable support to the rest of the cast in each act.

The tales of “Plaza Suite” might be thin but they certainly made the audience chuckle and smile and that’s what it’s all about.

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