Role Play

Role play written in 2001 by Alan Ayckbourn is the third in a trilogy of a comedy plays called Damsels in Distress. This play was somewhat of an afterthought for the writer, but many audiences will be glad this thought happened. The play is set in London and is about a young couple’s engagement party which is interrupted by unexpected guests. The play has some fantastic characters and has many different types of humour which appeals to many tastes. The plays plot develops throughout leading to a somewhat unexpected end. The play also supports many themes such as love, hate, spur of the moment thinking and fear. This play is well worth a watch!

Upon entering the theatre we were greeted with the stage being set as a London Docklands apartment. This was absolutely superb and dressed to perfection. There was a functional living room, a kitchen which even had a sink, cooker, fridge containing magnets and even old shopping receipts. The set also had a well stocked, later to be very well used bar down stage right. The addition of a London skyline with changing weather conditions being projected through the apartment’s French doors onto the balcony was a clever concept and added further to this strong and sturdy set.

The play opened with a scene where the young couple were discussing their engagement dinner party. This included both being worried about what would happen and if everybody would like each other as this would be their first meeting. This discussion which at some points bordered on an argument raised many laughs from the audience, this was due to people watching being able to connect with the situation. This scene worked very well which would have mainly been due to the relationship of the characters being believable.

The show progressed with many unexpected events and an amazing energy and enthusiasm, which was maintained all the way until the end of the show. Some of our favourite sections from the play were when the female’s dad talked about how both he and his wife disapproved of their children’s choice of partners, which provided many comical moments. Also was a scene with a dance to remember from the unexpected guest. The show ended with some last minute decisions and a change of life for all involved.

The whole show was well cast with every member feeling like they were made for their role. Characterisations were very well performed throughout the whole show, with every person staying in character throughout their whole time on stage. As all members spent a lot of time on stage this should be commended. The cast used the whole stage well and delivered their lines very clearly with excellent articulation, so the direction of all the cast must be commended. 

Overall this show proved very enjoyable and was an entertaining evening for all. Front of house staff were very accommodating and the backstage and technical staff should also be acknowledged for their hard work to stage this fantastic production. After hearing some very good comments about the society’s last production of ‘Breaking the Code’, we had high expectations for the quality of this show and were definitely not disappointed. This society should be proud of crowning its 70th anniversary celebration year with this show. We look forward to seeing the company's shows during their next performance season.

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