Ten Times Table

There’s a reason, I think, why the plays of Alan Ayckbourn have proved to be so enduringly popular across the theatre world.  These well-crafted plays offer wonderfully observed, character-based humour that provides great insight into the human condition, and actors with many great opportunities to stretch themselves.  Ten Times Table, whilst not the most well-known of Ayckbourn’s oeuvre, is no exception, and the Second Thoughts cast grabbed the opportunities it provided with both hands.

Ten Times Table is set in Ayckbourn’s fictional town of Pendon, as a committee led by the well-meaning Ray Dixon embark on the creation of a pageant to commemorate the memory of ‘The Pendon Twelve’.  But it’s not long before factionalism sets in, as two groups come to blows, one led by left-wing firebrand Eric and the other by Ray’s rather more conservative wife Helen.  The play ends with the wonderful chaos of the Pageant itself.

There were many great performances throughout the cast.  Adam Schumacher was spot on the hopeful, hapless Ray Dixon, forever trying to keep the peace as chaos was unleashed around him.  Tracy Humphreys was also strong as his wife Helen, full of snippy asides as she sparred with Eric, who was given a confident insouciance by Steve Farr.  Barry Purchase-Rathbone did a great job as the pernickety Donald Evans, and Gill Hines made the absolute most of the wonderful role of his mother, Audrey, with her fixed grin and variable hearing!

Georgina Monk was convincing as Sophie, a young woman who comes under Eric’s influence, as was Emma Purchase-Rathbone as Philippa, the third part of their love triangle.  Malcolm Castle was very good as the unfortunate Lawrence, slipping into alcoholism as his marriage collapses.  It’s not easy to ‘act drunk’ on stage, and Malcolm did a very effective job. Tom Purchase-Rathbone gave Tim Barton just the right air of slightly unhinged menace, particularly as things kick off at the end.  Completing the cast was Gary Manders, who made a brief but entertaining appearance as Max Kirkoff.

The play was clearly and efficiently directed by Nic Walsh, his cast showing good timing and keeping up the pace throughout – important for such a lengthy play.  Some of the characters were given a pronounced northern accent, not sure why but I guess this may have been a nod to Ayckbourn’s long term association with Scarborough. 

There was a simple but effective set depicting the pub room in which the play took place, dominated by a set of tables formed into a horseshoe, around which the committee met.  There were a couple of moments where someone came on to remove replace a drum from behind the tables – not sure why, but it did garner the odd chuckle from the audience.

The final scene, in which the Pageant takes place, was well depicted, with the conflict between the two sides nicely evoked and the escalating chaos well co-ordinated.  Perhaps a little more could have been made of the ‘horse’ on which poor Laurence rode into battle, and it would have been nice to see Ray’s costume actually split, but on the whole it was very effective.  There was a very good practical effect for the moment where Tim shot a padlock from a set of double doors.

The show finished with a rousing chorus of the ‘John Cockle’ song, involving the whole cast, which I thought was a nice touch.  It also provided a good contrast to the bucolic strains of ‘The Floral Dance’ which we had previously heard at regular intervals throughout the play.

Lighting was effective, and included some good effects early on as Ray attempted to control the urges of an off-stage member of the pub staff to fiddle with the switches!  Costume was also well handled, both for the meeting scenes and the final Pageant, where the characters were all decked out appropriately.

Overall this was a strong production of a very good play by a master of the craft.  NODA President Graham Liverton, who was in attendance, rightfully led the congratulations to the cast and crew.  Well deserved, and I look forward to the next show, which interestingly will feature three one-act plays. 

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