Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn, Manor Pavilion Theatre Sidmouth until 31 August 2024, 4✩✩✩✩. Review: Cormac Richards

With his 1972 play, ‘Absurd Person Singular’, Alan Ayckbourn had his first real hit. Far from being a straightforward comedy, the story is full of many layers and is, at times, far from obviously funny. Three sets of couples (and one you never get to meet) meet on successive Christmas’s at each other’s houses – the kitchen to be precise; as the years pass, the balance within the couples and between the different ones changes considerably. Role reversal along with victory and defeat play a part, as do subject matters such as class, drug and alcohol dependency, suicide and financial ruin.

As with many of Ayckbourn’s characters, these are damaged and unhappy people; their marriages far from perfect; it is the arc of each of their stories which intrigues and entertains. Sidney Hopcraft is ambitious in work and invites guests he wants to impress, but is let down by his socially awkward wife Jane, who is frantic to try and please her husband; Brandon Eady and Katherine Dodds set the characters up perfectly – the change in them (particularly in the case of Sidney) is alarming. Spot on performances from both a physical and vocal perspective. The local bank manager, Ronald and his wife, Marion, are a far cry from the Hopcrafts; James Pellow is subservient to his spouse initially, but after a darkly hilarious episode in the second act, grows in strength; it is a wonderfully rounded performance. As Marion, Emily Outred is sensational; full of insincerities and an arch-snob to boot, her turn in Act III is something of a cross between Blanche duBois and Norma Desmond; a comic triumph. Once again Charlie Bryant issues an alert about his talent; Geoffrey is a vile misogynist and he treats his wife, Eva, appallingly – Bryant is superb and his immense monologue at the start of Act II is outstanding. Laura Mead, likewise, shows what talent she possesses, most obviously in Act II where she is virtually mute throughout as she attempts various forms of suicide – the empty stare, the quiet determination; brilliant. As strong a cast as you might want to see.

Anton Tweedale directs with such care; care for the writer’s work and for the characters, it would be easy to allow the actor playing Eva to overdo the desperation in the second Act, but no, it is quiet and understated and so much the better for that. Likewise the build-up to the chaotic scenes at the end of the play are boosted by the director’s wonderful appreciation of comedy.

Three acts and three different kitchens – it is a tall order and not one to be taken on lightly. The superb work of Andrew Beckett and James Prendergast cannot be underestimated here and when the gap between the first two acts is under two minutes, it is no wonder the audience gasps and bursts into applause. The sets are meticulously dressed with a very lengthy list of props – more applause.

Over 50 years on from its premiere the play still works well, but attitudes have changed and it seems so much darker than I recall – the lurch into absurdist drama in Act II where the humour is generated by the characters unaware of what Eva is trying to achieve, is uncomfortable to watch at times as is, to an extent, Sidney’s sadistic humiliation of the other couples at the end of the play.

There is much more to this play than might appear on the surface and Anton Tweedale’s production gets further under the skin than others I have seen. Ayckbourn hasn’t had many big hits in the last twenty years, but this is a reminder of just what a clever dramatist he really is.

Cast

Sidney Hopcraft – Brandon Eady

Jane Hopcraft – Katherine Dodds

Ronald – James Pellow

Marion – Emily Outred

Geoffrey – Charlie Bryant

Eva – Laura Mead

Creatives

Writer – Alan Ayckbourn

Director – Anton Tweedale

Design – Andrew Beckett

Lighting & Sound Operation – Mark Rose

Costume Designer – Jan Huckle

Lighting & Sound Design – James Prendergast

Set Builder – Andrew Beckett, James Prendergast

Props Supervisor - James Prendergast

Artistic Director - Paul Taylor-Mills

Season Associate Producer – Andrew Beckett