Role Play

Any Alan Ayckbourn play is one to be anticipated as it always holds the promise of a good evening's entertainment. And this production lived up to expectations.    As with all Ayckbourn works the action began calmly enough as a young couple get ready to host a dinner for family at which they intend to announce their engagement but relatively quickly the less endearing qualities of the characters begin to come to the fore; add to the mix two uninvited guests and future in-laws with hang-ups of their own and the scene is set for some frenetic developments and confrontations. I thought that the piece had been really well directed by Stuart Dawe who had obviously placed his hand firmly on the tiller. Each one of the cast played their role to the full, maintaining and developing their characters and defining their personality defects very strongly. It would, therefore, be wrong to single out one performance because it was a very good portrayal by everyone.   With an extremely well presented set, good lighting and competent backstage crew there is really nothing I could find to criticise in this presentation. I enjoyed the artwork displayed on the set too. Congratulations on this production to everyone involved, you gave us an afternoon of laughter but encouraged us to sympathise / empathise with each personality too.

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