Edward Alderton Theatre

Absurd Person Singular
Alan Ayckbourn

Directed by Sarah O'Hanlon

4-11 December 2010 (7 performances)

Three couples, three kitchens, three disastrous Christmas Eve parties...

Cast
Jane Hopcroft	Linda Gay
Sidney Hopcroft	Paul Friett
Eva Jackson	Tina Crook
Geoffrey Jackson	Mark Campbell
Marion Brewster-Wright	Eileen Warner
Ronald Brewster-Wright	Hugh Wooton
Lottie Potter	Michèle Yianni
Dick Potter	Kevin Coward
George	Kevin Coward

Crew
Stage Manager	Wendy Marsh
Assistant Stage Manager	Yvonne Golding
Set Construction	John Vinnels, Ron Andrews
Set Concept	Ron Andrews, John Vinnels, Mark Campbell, Sarah O'Hanlon, Phil Newton
Set Decorating	Sarah O'Hanlon, Wendy Marsh
Set Painting	Michael O'Hanlon, Sarah O'Hanlon, Mark Campbell, Richard Banks, Helen Banks
Floor Painting	Mick Taylor
Properties	Sarah O'Hanlon, Wendy Marsh, Richard Banks, Sandra O'Hanlon
Lighting Design	Rebecca Mason, Sarah O'Hanlon
Lighting Rigging	Rebecca Mason, Mick Taylor, Ian Long, Sarah O'Hanlon, Wendy Marsh
Lighting Programming	Rebecca Mason, Sarah O'Hanlon, Mick Taylor, Ian Long
Lighting Operation	Ian Long
Sound Design & Operation	Rebecca Mason
Costumes	Helen Banks
Backstage	Michèle Yianni, Kevin Coward, Cast
Knitted Toys	Eleanor McEnery

Review

Kitchen drama gets beneath the surface

Three acts: three married couples ... three kitchens ... three disastrous Christmas parties! Sarah O'Hanlon makes her début as director of Edward Alderton Theatre’s production of Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn which tracks the changing fortunes of a group of friends.

This is an enjoyable and well-conceived production with insightful observations coupled with a strong cast and technical crew. Not afraid of adding her own mark without doing the text a disservice, Sarah O’Hanlon draws out the seething jealousy, acrimony and utter frustration which permeate Ayckbourn’s text. We gradually see the socially inept and barely tolerated Hopcrofts accrue wealth and status, forcing their friends the Jacksons and the Brewster-Wrights, who once impressed them, to come to them for favours as their own fortunes and relationships founder.

The action takes place in the kitchen away from the (offstage) ‘real’ party which includes the voices of Dick (Kevin Coward) and Lottie Potter (Michèle Yianni). This is the space where characters can escape reality, prepare and draw up battle lines, exorcise their demons.

Ambivalent Sidney Hopcroft (Paul Friett) is well played. On one hand a social climber, eager to please and oily enough to schmooze his way with his bank manager; on the other, an insensitive husband whose harshness towards his “doormat” wife is unforgivable. Jane (Linda Gay) shows unquestioning loyalty, providing ‘logical’ explanations for all the mishaps at their Christmas party. And how well the character is played: Linda Gay’s comedy timing is impressive — never extreme or over the top. You just have to laugh at each ludicrous faux-pas.

The Jacksons are no less dysfunctional. Geoffrey (Mark Campbell) is a womanizing architect with little regard for pill-popping wife Eva (Tina Crook). Geoffrey’s unsympathetic character is well-observed with the fear of bullying never far away. Eva’s silent tragicomic role in Act 2 is tremendously played as her ever wacky suicide attempts are inadvertently thwarted by the guests. Her recovery in Act 3 shows her now in control, directing her husband, whose reputation has been tarnished, to accept any offer from upwardly mobile Sidney. The third couple are also not without their problems: Ronald Brewster-Wright (Hugh Wooton) is a banker whose fortunes, like the Jacksons’, teeter on the brink by the end of the play. He is unable to heat the house as everyone arrives for another Christmas party. Moreover, his wife Marion (Eileen Warner) is now an alcoholic. Theirs is a mismatched relationship convincingly played: he quiet, restrained; she, snobbish and dismissively hypocritical. By the end of the play the chasm between them and the Hopcrofts simply yawns. Another little gem and well worth investigating!

Steve Spencer

Kentish Times | 16 December 2010

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