TIME AND TIME AGAIN. To 17 September.
Scarborough
TIME AND TIME AGAIN
by Alan Ayckbourn
Stephen Joseph Theatre (The Round) In rep to 17 September 2005
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Sat 2.30pm
Runs 2hr 25min One interval
TICKWETS: 01723 370541
Review: Timothy Ramsden 1 September
I doubt there's been a richer revival of this 1971 comedy.Side by side by later Ayckbourns, this might seem a slight comedy. But at the beginning of the decade it already points to types in English society who would explode at the end in the turning-point Way Upstream.
There may be little of the technical ingenuity which made Ayckbourn famous around the time, though the split between conservatory and garden by an imaginary wall meaning conversations in one part are inaudible in the other is one. And stresses of the time - social unrest, the emergence of violence in Northern Ireland, hijackings or oil-prices for a few - may be kept offstage. But the setting is deceptively calm.
Either side of this space lie the rest of a house, the world of daily reality, and the municipal recreation field where public involvment begins. Between is this place where there should be relaxation, but which is filled with human tensions and shortcomings.
This is an ideal cast. John Branwell is seriously threatening as a lecherous businessman, cruelly humorous towards the brother-in-law he despises, casually dismiossive of his loyal and dutiful wife as he smooches a young employee's fiancee.
And Eileen Battye's outstanding as that wife, trying to keep events on an even keel in a life which is a suppressed struggle to maintain her own sanity (there are Ayckbourn females not far in the future who won't manage this). Quiet, vocally seeking to insert a note of hope or reconciliation, Anna's so unselfish it's easy to forget events start right after her mother's funeral.
Hers is an existence where independence means breaking a 15-year habit by offering Graham Battenberg instead of Dundee cake, his mild approval undercut by casual dismissal of the initiative.
Graham might be the obvious monster but others wreak more immediate havoc. Young Peter (Neil Grainger making smooth transitions between friendly and high-tempered modes) is comically wrong about things but he becomes the victim of 2 people following their own inclinations, Laura Doddington's Joan, seduced into a treachery she blithely accepts, and Leonard.
He's something of a sketch for The Norman Conquests' title character, feckless and interfering. Apparently harmless, he wreaks more havoc than anyone, without seeming the least concerned. Giles New contrives to do this without any of the superfluous mannerisms to which such Ayckbourn characters most easily become prone. It's easy to cheer when he turns his wit against Graham but New's superb performance allows the quiet arrogance underlying Len's iresponsible indulgence to emerge steadily as this excellent revival proceeds on Michael Holt's lifelike set.
Graham: John Branwell
Anna: Eileen Battye
Leonard: Giles New
Joan: Laura Doddington
Peter: Neil Grainger
Director: Alan Ayckbourn
Designer: Michael Holt
Lighting: Ben Vickers
Music: John Pattison
2005-09-02 11:49:15