The Stables Theatre and Arts Centre
The Bourne, Hastings
East Sussex TN34 3BD
01424 423221
The Bourne, Hastings
East Sussex TN34 3BD
01424 423221
Relatively Speaking
By Alan Ayckbourn
A Stables Theatre production
Directed by Michael Boakes
9–17 March 2007
Reviewed by Philip Blurton
By Alan Ayckbourn
A Stables Theatre production
Directed by Michael Boakes
9–17 March 2007
Reviewed by Philip Blurton
One of the best ways to have had a good laugh on Red Nose Day was to buy a ticket for the Stables Theatre’s first production of the season, Relatively Speaking by Alan Ayckbourn. Once you had suspended your disbelief at Ayckbourn’s most unlikely set of circumstances, it was laugh after laugh in a pacey, fun-filled couple of hours. Did we believe that the naive young Greg (played by Matt Turpin in his first major role at the Stables) would be the chosen Adonis for the more worldly Ginny (Zoe Morgan)? Who cares? Given the gasp from the audience as Matt Turpin’s naked torso emerged into Ginny’s bedsit, maybe it wasn’t so unlikely.
Off went the play at around a hundred miles per hour and with just as many confused misunderstandings as the time allowed. Ginny wants to marry Greg, but an ex-lover, the more senior Philip (David Morley), is still on her tail, and his wife, Sheila (Dorothy Barlow), is of course completely in the dark. Greg thinks Sheila and Philip are Ginny’s parents … and so it continues.
All the actors caught the key aspects of their characters and played off each other to earn our interest in them as real people in an unbelievable situation. Dorothy Barlow and Matt Turpin established a heart-warming mother and son relationship for their characters, but with completely the wrong idea about who they each were; it was intended and we laughed. At the same time Zoe Morgan and David Morley sparred nicely in a game of one-upmanship that swung back and forward until the old cad had his comeuppance, and again we laughed.
Highs for me: our first sight of Philip and Sheila drinking their tea behind newspapers while arguing over the marmalade; shocked “penny drop” moments from Philip, including the off-stage sound of the shed tools collapsing as another potential disaster loomed; and the lovely thought of Greg and Sheila happily making pastry in the kitchen while chaos mounted outside. Another high was Ginny’s hem line, which even for the 1960s looked on the daring side! And was that every pot plant from the Stables foyer on stage for the very impressive back garden set at the home of Philip and Sheila?
It was a lively start to the Stables season.
Off went the play at around a hundred miles per hour and with just as many confused misunderstandings as the time allowed. Ginny wants to marry Greg, but an ex-lover, the more senior Philip (David Morley), is still on her tail, and his wife, Sheila (Dorothy Barlow), is of course completely in the dark. Greg thinks Sheila and Philip are Ginny’s parents … and so it continues.
All the actors caught the key aspects of their characters and played off each other to earn our interest in them as real people in an unbelievable situation. Dorothy Barlow and Matt Turpin established a heart-warming mother and son relationship for their characters, but with completely the wrong idea about who they each were; it was intended and we laughed. At the same time Zoe Morgan and David Morley sparred nicely in a game of one-upmanship that swung back and forward until the old cad had his comeuppance, and again we laughed.
Highs for me: our first sight of Philip and Sheila drinking their tea behind newspapers while arguing over the marmalade; shocked “penny drop” moments from Philip, including the off-stage sound of the shed tools collapsing as another potential disaster loomed; and the lovely thought of Greg and Sheila happily making pastry in the kitchen while chaos mounted outside. Another high was Ginny’s hem line, which even for the 1960s looked on the daring side! And was that every pot plant from the Stables foyer on stage for the very impressive back garden set at the home of Philip and Sheila?
It was a lively start to the Stables season.
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Photographs > www.artypharty.com
A selection of production photographs from the 1950s to the present is available at our photographer Peter Mould’s website.
A selection of production photographs from the 1950s to the present is available at our photographer Peter Mould’s website.
