The Harmony Test by Richard Molloy. Downstairs at Hampstead Theatre, Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London NW3 to 22 June 2024.

4✩✩✩✩ Review: William Russell.

“Sparkling comedy about getting pregnant.”

Zoe (Pearl Chanda) has decided she wants to have a baby, which is news to her rather drippy actor husband Kash (Bally Gill) who is taken aback at the schedule he is required to follow to achieve the desired result. But he does as he is told, which he usually does. However into their lives come their older neighbours Naomi (Jemima Rooper) and Charlie (Milo Twomey) whose marriage is in trouble. Their daughter has left for university and Naomi has decided her life is over which, given that Charlie, owner of a tea shop of all things, is what one would call a pillock, is far from surprising. His suggestion is Naoli should take something up to replace the loss – maybe go to the gym. She duly does, and inevitably among all the testosterone acquires fitness trainer muscle bound Rocco (Sandro Rosta). She leaves Charlie to stay with the obliging Naomi and naturally, to Kash’s horror, Rocco comes too. A lot of coming and going, some of it quite noisy, duly ensues off stage.

Richard Molloy’s play is very funny and gets a sparkling production from director Alice Hamilton. Zoe and Kash have a kitchen to die for – all the action takes place there – and presumably a rather nice set of rooms beyond well within earshot of those in the kitchen. The only problem, slight but real, is the play consists, especially towards the beginning , of a seemingly endless series of tiny scenes separated by the cast coming in and changing the props from the preceding one. It would work better played straight through on television where those prop changes would not be necessary. As it is they interrupt the flow of the play although not enough to stop it from working. The audience reaction at the matinee I attended, however, was fascinating – the men laughed far less at how they were shown than the women when the foibles of their sex got exposed. The point is it was not the first press night lot who have rather different ways of behaving that paying punters.

Bally Gill is wonderfully gauche as Kash whose explanation as to why he might not be able to fulfil all the rumpy pumpy required of him, if required too often, is hilarious as is the scene in which the something he comes home with to assist in the process is discussed, sampled, and eventually used. If there is a flaw in the casting although not in her performance, it is that Jemima Rooper looks about the same age as Zoe, although it helps explain why hulk Rocco has latched on to her. He is actually a nice guy but even nice guys give things up. It all turns serious towards the end as Zoe has problems with the health of the baby she is carrying but this is a comedy and, after a packet of cornflakes erupts all over the place, and a mobile phone is used – life today cannot exist with phones - all ends happily although not necessarily for ever after in the case of the older couple.

Cast

Pearl Chanda – Zoe.

Pally Gill – Kash.

Jemima Roper – Naomi.

Sandro Rosta – Rocco.

Milo Twomey – Charlie.

Creatives

Director – Alice Hamilton.

Designer – Sarah Beaton.

Lighting Designer – Jamie Platt.

Sound Designer – Harry Blake.

Fight Director –Bret Yount.

Intimacy Director – Angela Gasparetto.