Review #1: Bedroom Farce
Publication: Shoreham Herald
Publication Data: Unknown
Reviewer: Sam Woodman
Text Header: Unknown
Text: Content
Vintage Alan Ayckbourn comedy Bedroom Farce was given a new lease of life by a sparkling cast in Wick Theatre Company’s latest production. David Creedon stole the show as Ernest, and Sheelagh Baker proved a perfect foil for the character’s barbed wit as wife Delia. Laughs came thick and fast as Ernest tried to contend with a leaky roof, a disappointing dining experience and pilchards in bed – not to mention some late-night unexpected visitors.
Following his debut Barn performance as the camp Mr. Humpries and a fearsome U-Boat captain in Wick’s Christmas Are You Being served? / Dad’s Army double bill, Ian White again excelled, this time as bed-ridden Nick. His battle against a bad back never failed to amuse, and Diane Robinson gave a sterling performance as unsympathetic wife Jan. Home-maker Kate and Malcolm were played delightfully by Judith Berrill and Kevin Isaac, while John Garland and Zoë Edden amuse and frustrated in equal measure as Trevor and Susannah, the couple plagued by marriage problems.
Director Kate Brownings’ talented cast ensured the audience at Southwick’s packed Barn theatre did not go home disappointed.
Review #2: Bedroom Farce
Publication: Brighton Argus
Publication Data: Unknown
Reviewer: Barrie Jerram
Text Header: Unknown
Text: Content
When it comes to play construction, Alan Ayckbourn is a master craftsman and this latest offering from the Wick Theatre Company is a superb example of his talent. The play takes place in three bedrooms in separate households – all cleverly contained in the one set – and revolves around Trevor, who is a catalyst for disaster, and his neurotic wife, Susannah, forever chanting her mantra to build self-confidence. They ruin a party given by friends Malcolm and Kent and set off a chain of events which not only brings their hosts’ marriage into question but also those of Trevor’s parents and their friends, Nick and Jan. The events bring to light the common themes in all four marriages – ignored wives and sexual boredom.
Ayckbourn has a gift for writing dialogue which is naturalistic and for depicting situation and characters which are familiar to us all. The play crackles with wit and humour and yet there is the author’s trademark theme of pain beneath the surface of relationships. It fell to Sheelagh Baker, as Trevor’s mother, to utter words of wisdom to her daughter-in-law. “When sex rears its ugly head, just close your eyes before you see the rest of it.”
Katie Brownings’ direction extracted the best from the script and created great comic moments. She was fortunate in having a cast of such quality that their performances appeared effortless. Sheelagh Baker and David Creedon led the way with two portrayals that were delightfully underplayed that resulted in much humour. As Nick, confined to his bed having put his back out, Ian White demonstrated great talent for comic mime. John Garland played the hapless Trevor deadpanned, to humorous effect, as he naively blundered through other people’s lives. The comic talents of the husbands were well matched by their wives, Diane Robinson, Judith Berrill and the consistently excellent Zoë Edden.
In trying to find something about the production to criticise I have to admit failure. It was a consummate production.
Review #3: Bedroom Farce
Publication: Words & Music
Publication Data: Unknown
Reviewer: Gordon Bull
Text: Content
A particular thrill for me throughout Kate Brownings’ careful direction of Ayckbourn’s Bedroom Farce was the impressive diction that never failed to come across the whole theatre. The tenor of this play is humour and wit without the need for double-entendre or reliance on slapstick; entirely situation. It took some while for the various couples to settle into their rôles in the first act, being over-anxious to I believe to project the right image, but as the comedy unfolded, so did the characters slip more easily into their respective parts.
Nick [Ian White] playing the back-smitten husband was effective enough to remind me of similar battles, that I really felt for him. His spouse Jane [Diane Robinson] took her place beside, under and over him equally effectively. The mature couple Ernest [David Creedon] and Delia [Sheelagh Baker] were the stabilising couple whose relationship had become so perfectly moulded after many years in danger of becoming stale. A warning to us all and again a convincing performance. Their son Trevor [John Garland] and irritating wife Susannah [Zoë Edden] clearly had little to offer each other and not only was their marriage somewhat rocky with the consequence that looking at old flames was likely to finish off. So they turn up separately at the party given by Malcolm and Kate sufficiently apart for some hanky panky in the bedroom while flying about between bedroom and bedroom. In various states of modest undress.
The lighting [Mike Medway] was well controlled to highlight which particular bedroom was in focus and the stage presentation of all the rooms worked effectively so that one felt quite at home with the characters who gave us a good insight into the perils of just living the married life and the marital stresses and extra-marital attractions which we all know present potential challenges.
A full house on the night loved it and laughter was never short. Amazingly enough, this highly enjoyable play, despite the title, did not produce a plethora of plunging pants or female flesh, innuendo nor even suggestive dialogue. Situation comedy at its best. Which goes to show something! It’s a welcome change not to have modern day life flung at one full in the face to appreciate it.
[/showhide]
