Season's Greetings

This seasonal offering from the pen of Alan Ayckbourn might, on paper, have felt a little out of place on a March evening but the sprinkling of snow we'd had the previous week and the fact that the Christmas spirit should of course be ever-present in our hearts meant that it was a welcome treat, whatever the time of year. Added to this is the fact that whatever the Arts Club team serve up on stage is always a vital and much appreciated addition to the artistic lifeblood of the nation. That said however, I did feel there was a certain inconsistency of tone and characterisation this time round; a certain unevenness in the the feel of the production which, while not having a particularly deleterious effect on the overall entertainment, did result in the occasional metaphorical grinding of gears from time to time. Nevertheless, the Arts Club team are once more to be commended for tackling a worthwhile and interesting piece, and for providing laughs a-plenty along the way.

The play revolves around the tragi-comic misadventures in the Bunker household over the festive period, as Neville and Belinda Bunker play host to a chaotic gathering at Christmas. Ayckbourn is famed for his comic dissections of suburban middle class mores and this play tackles that most potentially incendiary of domestic challenges; the family Christmas. The play was premiered in 1980 and it was nice to see this reflected in a number of period touches around the household on stage and with the characters' costumes; all those lovely polo shirts, sweaters and shell-suits, with a very special mention going to Belinda's amazing outfits and her very '80s hairdo!

The curtain opened on that most familiar of seasonal scenes as we see Harvey, played by Tony Lewis, indulging himself in the most British of Christmas traditions (sitting in an armchair watching the very long film - insert the name of your favourite here - that's always on TV at Christmas: EVERY Christmas!) where we get a flavour for his taste for violence as he gives sensitive soul Bernard (Robin Brown) a running commentary on the more bloodthirsty moments as they pop up on the TV. The tree is being decked; drinks are being poured; chaos reigns in the kitchen; arguments are brewing... All in all, a typical Christmas! The play did an excellent job in making this festive occasion one that was immediately recognisable to everyone and did so very subtly, making this a familiar and realistic dramatic arena as events spiral out of control on stage. Setting the scene so well from the outset meant that the audience had an easy task in settling down comfortably to follow the twists and turns as the evening progressed. Once again, the technical team at the Clubhouse had come up trumps to provide a perfect setting for this domestic drama with a clever set which carefully suggested the different playing areas and was dressed very well to suggest the period.

Populating the manic Bunker household, the rather motley crew of characters were brought to life by the talented Arts Club regulars in fine style. Sara Ashton was a superb Belinda, harried and hassled as she attempted to steer a steady course through the manic family festivities. Sara's strong performance provided a solid centre to the piece throughout the play. David Pilkington excelled as husband Neville; there was a solid believability with his performance and he gave depth to a character who could have easily been dismissed as a minor irritant with a penchant for fiddling away in his shed. Harvey - the former security guard with a taste for firearms and who has a knife strapped to his leg - delights in buying ever-so-liberal Bernard's children a small armoury of toy guns for Christmas and has a withering disdain for pretty much everyone else on stage; perfectly pitched in the capable hands of Tony Lewis. Bernard - the well-meaning pain in the neck with a passive-aggressive streak a mile wide - was very well played by Robin Brown who captured the irritating side of this familiar middle class 'type' brilliantly. Bernard's hilariously naff puppet show was the highlight of the second act, aided and abetted in comic hi-jinks by the sardonic commentary from Harvey. Phyllis - Bernard's stroppy lush of a wife - made her disruptive presence felt throughout the evening in the shape of a very strong performance by Andrea Nixon. Pattie and Eddie, the couple who seem to be growing ever further apart from each other, were again very well played by Charlotte McConnell and Fran Thomas. Pregnant Pattie, constantly trying to get the attention of her slob of a husband, was particularly well drawn; another excellent character portrait from Charlotte to add to her gallery of effective performances on stage, with Fran giving an equally memorable turn as the rather disagreeable Eddie. Frumpy, flustered Rachel was brilliantly brought to life by Rachel Nolan, giving a perfect rendition of the character's tendency to think too much about - and act too little upon - her emotional wellbeing. Geoff Baron's appearance as Clive, the author whose presence causes an excited tremor of 'celebrity' through the household, was also a very well realised character, proving once again that the players at the Arts Club are all in the very top rank of local talent. It proves that when the quality of the deck is as assured as it is here, however you shuffle the pack and deal out your cast of performers from play to play, the result is guaranteed to be first class.

To return to the mild note of unease hinted at in the opening paragraph however, I did wonder if there was a wholly convincing cohesion to some aspects of the production. The tone of the production did seem a little uneven at times and I did wonder how certain scenes were intending to be played out; sometimes with a more subtle, character-driven edge, sometimes with a lurch into much broader and farcical territory. I also thought that perhaps one or two characterisations tended to float in and out of believability as the play progressed: for example, I initially had a bit of difficulty believing that Harvey was a hard-bitten, violence-loving ex-security guard; yet the marvellous triumph of his withering impatience with Bernard's puppet show was worth forgetting any niggles I'd harboured against the character earlier. There were other moments throughout the evening which I found slightly jarring and not quite on the mark too: this sense of unevenness, both of a general tone and of individual characterisations, did make for a slightly disjointed overall feel to the play. I'm not altogether convinced that this isn't a fault of the play itself however, rather than being an issue with this particular production. In any event, the very appreciative audience certainly didn't let any minor inconsistencies get in the way of their having a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

An Arts Club production is always a guarantee of quality and 'Season's Greetings' was no exception. It was clear that thought and care had gone into the presentation of Ayckbourn's popular comedy and the usual high standards were maintained here. Technically adept and with keen directorial attention paid to steering the play in a certain direction, the production proved to be a big hit with the packed house on the evening I attended. I didn't think the play was half as clever or amusing as it thought it was however but then that's probably all down to personal taste. I look forward to their next offering - 'Ladies in Lavender' - with keen anticipation.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.