The Good Life

 Producing a nostalgic comedy like the BBC's 1970s 'The Good Life' can be challenging. It may attract fans of the original TV series, but it also sets high expectations. It was certainly one of my favourites.

Kerry Jones’ direction of this staged production created a fun play with well worked scenes in a production that had both charm and impressive casting. The chemistry between the four main interesting characters was bright and convincing they portrayed the joys and the frustrations of living, ‘The Good Life.’

This production by Jeremy Sands is based on the classic TV series by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey which starts with an idealistic couple, characters, Tom and Barbara, leaving their old life, the capitalist rat race, and becoming self-sufficient by farming livestock in their back garden, growing their own food and rearing their own back yard animals. This is to the horror of their pompous neighbours, Jeremy and Margo Leadbetter.

The set design, led by Sam Evans was awesome, and the props suited the period perfectly, backed up by lighting (designed by Stan Vigurs), and sound from Sam Evans and Dominic Holmes. The stage was split in half showing the Good’s kitchen (complete with agar) and the second half, the Leadbetters’ living room. This allowed us to watch simultaneous happenings in both homes. For example, we were able to watch characters Barbara and Tom smoking weed before attending a dinner party at their neighbours. Whilst next door we were able to observe the dinner party that Margo was so keen to keeping sophisticated. The smoking and silliness of the couple next door meant that a build up to the reunion of the two households was interesting to watch. The detailed scenery accurately depicted the 1970s, including a garden visible to the audience and a serving hatch from the kitchen to dining area. It was easy to imagine the characters living in those spaces.

Characters, Tom Good (Chris Pilkington) and Barbara Good (Christina Peak) were the happily married couple in Surbiton. His midlife crisis led Tom to quit his job, designing plastic toys for cereal packets, and both he and Barbara jointly decided to become self-sufficient which meant transforming their garden into an allotment to grow food and raising a goat, chickens and pigs. This caused alarm for neighbour Margo Leadbetter (Esther Horton) and Jerry Leadbetter (Noel Redfern), with whom Tom used to work. There was quite a bit of time in the first act explaining what led him to this decision and I felt this was too long. The audience were then presented with a sequence of set pieces such as attempts to save a dying piglet and a dinner party fuelled by Harry the Pigman’s hash cakes and Tom’s peapod wine. Whilst some elements of this script were amusing, credibility in scenes woven into the plot, was strained and a little overdramatic at times and this impacted on the pace of the production in the second half.

However, the chaos of the Goods living the,’ good life’, in stark contrast to the Leadbetters’ lifestyle, did provide ample servings of timely humorous moments within relationships and Kerry’s precise direction of her cast ensured interactions between characters were warm, natural and enthusiastic.

Christina Peak played Barbara Good with energy, conveying a heightened sense of fun as well as being the solidly supportive wife of Tom. Christina was a delight in this role and bonded well with Chris Pilkington who played Tom Good. Chris delivered his intentions about his new lifestyle clearly; his stage presence conveyed determination and optimism with a playful tone in his expressions, both facially and vocally. Noel Redfern delivered an excellent performance as Jerry Leadbetter, portraying him as a likeable, courteous, and gentle character. His depiction of the henpecked husband, middle manager, and amiable neighbour provided a striking contrast to his wife, Margo. Esther Horton nailed the snobby part of Margo, obsessed with getting the role of Maria in the local operatic society’s production of The Sound of Music. Esther portrayed this assertive, demanding character absolutely pitch perfect, adopting certain tones in her voice and body language. Her costumes in strong colours with matching garish turbans reflected her obsession with appearance. Claire Parker’s delivery of the part of Felicity Ferguson was relaxed and natural. She seemed quite at home in the Leadbetters’ living room. Phil Lines played the roles of Sir with an appropriate air of authority and Dr Joe. He also brought a playful element to his portrayal of Harry the Pigman.  I was unable to detect he was multicast in these roles until I read the programme!  Ian Askew was well-suited for and made an agreeable policeman, Frank. High praise too, to the rest of the supporting cast in cameo roles, including Barbel Redfern as the Milkwoman; Caitlin Griffin as Mary the receptionist and Heidi O’Connor as Margaret the Secretary. And how can I forget Lucy Burbridge as the puppeteer manipulating the antics of Geraldine the Goat? Well done Lucy for bringing Geraldine to life on stage and creating chaos, complete with bleating!

This was a delightful evening’s entertainment, a British TV sitcom from the 1970s that has been reimagined on stage with potential challenges. Congratulations to Kerry Jones, the director, and to the cast and crew. Thank you for inviting me.

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