Absent Friends at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Review
Absent Friends
Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury
14-16 May 2015
Reviewed by Hilary Whates
A trip to the theatre is always a treat and on a cold damp May evening a very welcome diversion from the unseasonably chilly weather. Aylesbury Waterside Theatre is very well served for car parks and nearby restaurants so a hassle free evening beckoned.
Once inside the theatre we walked, drinks in hand, to our seats and begun studying the set – a very well put together 1970s lounge with leather sofas, the ubiquitous stone clad fireplace and a coffee table prepared with Denby tea cups and clingfilmed sandwiches. The theatre filled nicely – but not completely on this first day – and the lights dimmed for the start of a very entertaining and thought-provoking evening.
Absent Friends is one of 79 plays written by the prolific and much loved Alan Ayckbourn. This portrayal by the London Classic Theatre company of Ayckbourn’s play about relationships is a masterclass in observational humour and situation comedy which had us laughing out very loud and cringing in equal measure.
The interplay of relationships we are introduced to becomes ever more intricate yet distant in equal measure. Caring and well-meaning hostess of an afternoon tea party, the entire setting for the play, is Diana (Catherine Harvey) who it is quickly clear is tormented by the thought that her husband, Paul – a successful and doesn’t he know it, businessman – is having an affair and who suspects the culprit to be her first house guest, Evelyn – played so effectively by Kathryn Ritchie with massively exaggerated nonchalance. Diana unsuccessfully attempts to cajole Evelyn, who is married to the permanently twitching John, into a confession and is interrupted with the arrival of her friend Marge (Alice Selwyn). I loved Marge, she made me laugh a lot with her inappropriate comments and her lengthy phone calls to her sickly, overweight and very demanding husband who clearly needs constant mothering which she is willing provide as a substitute for not having her own children. With the arrival of husbands Paul (Kevin Drury) and John (John Dorney) all are dreading the cause of the get-together – Colin – an old ‘friend’ whose fiancée of one year tragically drowned two months previously. The sense of alarm and embarrassment at meeting him and the underlying tensions between the couples is very clear. What will happen?
Colin (played so convincingly by Ashley Cook) pretty much bounces into the room. His innocent openness and happiness at finding love, even though short-lived, is entirely at odds with all those in the room.By the time he leaves it is clear the one who is the most concerned about how his friends are is the still somewhat insensitive to what is going on around him, Colin. He reminded me a little of Alan Partridge.
A funny and thought-provoking production. Although the play is 40 years old the lives the women found themselves in still resonates in society today. A great evening and well worth a trip to the theatre.
Rating: 4/5
Tickets cost from £10.90 to £40.90 (plus £2.85 transaction fee).
Absent Friends is at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury until 16 May 2015. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 0844 871 7607.
Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Exchange Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP20 1UG
