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by Alan Ayckbourn 8 - 17 July 2010
This is widely regarded as Ayckbourn’s funniest comedy, filled as it is with a sustained and hilarious series of mistaken identities and well-disguised secrets. Greg and Ginny are living together but when Greg discovers a pair of rogue slippers under the bed, he begins to wonder if he is the only man in her life. He becomes suspicious of her rather mysterious intention to “visit her parents” and decides to follow her. Ginny is really going to see her much older former lover to break with him but Greg arrives before she does and assumes the older man and his wife are actually Ginny’s parents. Ginny’s later arrival only throws the whole thing into a wildly funny miasma of assumptions, half-truths and revelations. Be prepared to find your ribs aching with laughter. It’s too good to miss.
Cast
Croydon Advertiser ReviewTheo Spring July 23 2010 To close their current season, The Miller Centre chose the four-handed Ayckbourn comedy of misunderstandings, deceit and love affairs. Set in the 1960s, the scenes demand a small flat to be succeeded by the grand terraced garden of The Willows in Lower Pendon. This was achieved using the revolve, with the house and garden revealed to justified applause and full marks to backstage crew and designer Chris Butler.
The dialogue in the flat plots the relationship between young Greg and Ginny whose love affair is in its first flush. Robin Clark’s Greg was fresh-faced and earnest and obviously a little new to this dating game whereas Kirsty Pannett as Ginny managed the vibes of experience without giving away any secrets. Her Mary Quant costume was a wardrobe triumph. To do things right, Greg too sets off for The Willows, meeting Sheila, so delightfully brought to life by Suzi Whittle, and her husband Philip, a curmudgeonly John Lacy. In a series of duologues, the confusion grows with no-one actually being who the others think they are. Ginny eventually arrives and, in discussion between her and Philip, the reason for the bouquets and the chocolates is revealed. After a rather slow start the cast picked up pace as the convoluted plot proceeded with considerable comedy. Director Berry Butler made all the revealing clear in her debut for The Miller Centre. |
