Relatively Speaking

The Play

Alan Ayckbourn's play Relatively Speaking, first staged in 1965, proved to be his first major success and the start of an amazingly successful career as one of Britain’s leading playwrights.

Relatively Speaking opened, as do most Ayckbourn plays, in Scarborough, transferring to London in 1967. The theme of complicated plot and personality confusion followed the success of the popular 1950’s Whitehall farces, though here Ayckbourn introduced a narrative and character complexity new to British theatre comedy.

The play centres on a young couple, expecting to get married, and through a series of misunderstandings spending a day with an older couple wrongly assumed by the young man to be his prospective in-laws, but who in fact are themselves, to varying degrees, completely confused by the situation.

The confusion and the amusing deceptions between each of the four characters are the basis for the play’s comedy and its success.

The three performances of this production were staged in a compact studio theatre, each before about 60 people, providing an audience intimacy unlikely to be achieved in a larger performance setting. It  opened in a bedroom in the young couple’s small flat. Clearly, the bed is occupied.

The Cast

When the lights go up, the ‘bump’ under the duvet stirs and we are introduced to Greg, one half of the young couple played here by BADS regular, Rich Tomlinson. He gets out of bed, wrapped reasonably discreetly in a couple of towels. The proximity of the audience to the action meant that the front row was perhaps a little closer to Greg’s ‘morning stretches’ than they might have expected!

Rich’s versatile acting maintained the character of Greg throughout the production with a strong comedy characterisation, varying – as the situation required - between confusedly suspicious, artlessly gullible, and gormlessly naïve. A thoroughly enjoyable performance.

Greg shares the flat with partner Ginny  (Claire Simpson). Claire is another experienced BADS actor and in this production was convincing with her strong portrayal of the confident and duplicitous young woman trying to move on from her past while not being quite able to leave it. Of the play’s four characters Ginny is the only one who knows what's going on throughout the story, but has to go along with the fiction to protect her own behaviour. Claire conveyed perfectly the irritation, desperation and manipulation needed to try and achieve Ginny’s desired outcome.

Scene 2 of the First Act is in the garden of a middle-class home somewhere in England, where we meet the other two characters. This set remained in place for the rest of the production. Here, Joy Brankin-Frisby gave an excellent portrayal of  Sheila, the middle-class ‘home counties’ housewife, totally confused by the arrival of her unexpected visitors but determined to maintain the role of the respectable and hospitable hostess, bewildered but determined to behave correctly. Joy’s performance portrayed this character perfectly, in voice, expression and movement.

Joy’s errant husband Philip was played by Carl Smith. Another very convincing performance as the middle-aged businessman husband, easily (and obsessively) irritated, and anxious to conceal from his wife his affair with Ginny. The unravelling of Philip’s attempts to manage the situation to achieve his own ends, was superbly portrayed by Carl.

The Production

Production of this play was in the very capable hands of experienced Leicester actor and producer John Ghent. John managed to achieve the difficult task of staging the production in an extremely small space which at no time looked cramped or crowded. John’s vast theatre experience, and his record of working with accomplished performers, was evident in the polished presentation of this perfectly crafted comedy.

The two sets, bed-sit flat and country-house garden, were simple but effective; any changes within the scenes carried out subtly and quickly. Lighting, while relatively simple, was effectively managed by Kiri Hargreaves, and Sound well controlled by Rowan Almey.

The ending of Relatively Speaking leaves the characters suspended in individual and collective ignorance of the situation they have created and the confusion they’ve caused. All well portrayed here by this coordinated team of skilled actors.

In fact, classic, complicated, funny Ayckbourn, on this occasion skilfully produced and crisply presented. BADS can invariably be relied on to deliver polished and entertaining productions, and this was no exception. It demonstrated how with strong material, thoughtful casting and effective production, theatre of the highest quality can be presented in the smallest of settings.

Another BADS success. Thank you.

Colin Blackler

Noda

March 2026                                                                                                                                                                                                                            © NODA CIO.  All rights reserved

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.