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Absurd Person Singular
Postiwyd gan Tom_Bevan o Caerdydd - Cyhoeddwyd ar 12/10/2009 am 00:00
The play, in its 37th year is slightly dated, despite a strong and recognisable cast list featuring Robert Duncan (you know, Gus from Drop the Dead Donkey) and Lisa Kay who voiced various characters in Aardman’s Chicken Run (ooh, do I love that movie).
The production wasn’t quite as good as recent reviews have suggested. It wasn’t that Bill Kenwright and his team haven’t done a good job, the sets were clever and the timing exceptional, but often it was the humour itself which was laboured.
Divided into three acts, it documents the changing fortunes of three married couples. Each act takes place at a Christmas celebration at one of the couples' homes on successive Christmas Eves. That’s what Wikipedia has to say on the matter anyhow and yeah, that’s the general gist of things. All scenes however take place in the respective host’s kitchen, which creates its own humour as I’m sure you can imagine.
In Act One we are introduced to Jane (Lisa Kay), a housewife with a cleaning fetish and her husband Sidney (Matthew Cottle), a small-time business man. Here we get to know the characters, their financial situations and the comedy is bland but entertaining nonetheless. Act Two got by the far the most laughs as we visit Geoffrey (Stephen Beckett) an architect and Eva (Elizabeth Carling) his unhappy wife who, whilst her husband is offering drinks and keeping George the dog from biting the guests, is attempting to commit suicide: with farcical results.
Thoroughly enjoyable and indeed “Hilarious” as the flyers so boldly put it. That however was where the fun stopped. Next Christmas, it was the turn of Ronald (Robert Duncan) the local bank manager and Marion (Deborah Grant) his snobbish wife. Unfortunately, one of them was ill due to drink and the other ill due to drunken wife. They are suffering and can’t afford to heat their house despite being the “rich, snooty ones” only two Christmases before. Geoffrey the architect can’t find work and is in need of desperate help - in Act One he too looked down on Sidney and turned down his job offer. It is a case of role reversal at the last as Sidney, once mocked as a nobody, is now a successful businessman. And doesn’t he know it.
The last half hour was completely humourless and was in parts awkward to watch. The notion that we were to accept that one man could do so well while his so-called friends faltered was ridiculous because Sidney didn’t come across at all well. The ending was unsatisfying and conclusively put a downer on the show.
Shame, really, the rest wasn’t all that bad.
Rating: 3/5
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