The latest offering from The Other Theatre Company was another comedy from this popular playwright. Performed at Plumley Village Hall it was unashamed, laugh-out-loud stuff and had the audience captivated. Played by four members of the company this play, having no message or significance, clicked and fizzed until the end with almost continuous laughter throughout.
Played in two scenes, it was a simple plot but with a complex mix-up of relationships, love affairs and misunderstandings. Briefly, the story concerns two young people who decide to get married and it is when the young man goes on his own to meet a man the girl has described as her father (but who is in fact her lover) that the complications arise and have to be explained away.
This was verbal farce at its best; a situation of dramatic irony and misunderstandings was exploited until the tenseness of a stretched elastic band was reached.
As the middle-aged wife, Sophia Kennedy put in a wonderful performance, standing in at the last minute. British politeness, irritation, frustration, confusion; they were all there in her facial expressions – marvellous! Dave Thornton took the part of her husband brilliantly and handled the role with hilarity, making his character of the hapless ‘father’ both plausible and explosive. Anne-Marie Lonsdale, the girlfriend, gave a great performance; bubbly and confident as the seductive schemer. Completely at home ‘in the round’ she connected well with the audience. Joe Moore, a new ‘recruit’ for the company, played the young man and has an easy, relaxed style. He made his character quite charming and very likeable and also turned in a good performance.
To sum up, I literally had tears streaming down my face towards the end as the confusion grew. This was one of the funniest things I have seen anywhere, in ages.
All credit to the cast and also to Harry Kennedy, the Director and Sophia Kennedy, the Producer. Another triumph!
For more information about this production, please see our Past Productions page for Relatively Speaking.