THEATRE REVIEWS

If you want a complicated plot try "How the other Half Loves" by Alan Ayckbourn. One thing is assured though you will have understood everything that you have witnessed on the stage. There will be many in the audience who will recognise situations from their own lives which have been rearranged and presented to them for entertainment. When you leave the theatre you will keep thinking of remarks and situations on stage that are amusing and have hit home, but one thing is assured you will not have seen a better play dealing with life as it is dished up to us all. The play written in 1969 depicts the time and humour of the time. Enjoy the moment.

We have three couples connected by work. The boss Frank Foster (Robert Austin) who thinks the best of all and misses a lot to his cost, who has a long suffering wife Fiona Foster (Marilyn Cutts) who has looked elsewhere for interest. We have the young executive Bob Phillips (Theo Cross) with a wife Teresa Phillips (Rosie Jenkins) and new baby, and a young man William Featherstone (Ian McLarnon) who the boss thinks will make the grade, with a wife Mary Featherstone (Anna Lowe) who gives the impression that she is not up to it. Mix well, as you have to with Ayckbourn, and see what happens and you will have a surprise and learn a lot on the journey over five days in 1969.

A very nice piece of set design by Jan Bee Brown gives us some intriguing interchanges of set layout which a very able stage crew handle superbly. Now the direction is as usual something else as the master Ayckbourn manoeuvres everybody to present the masterful plot. The fight arrangement was again first rate with choreography by Kate Waters. The actors gave a first rate exhibition of their craft as they disappeared into their charactors, as their message came over in clear diction understandable to all.

So does he always get his way? If you are talking about Alan Ayckbourn then the answer is yes, he certainly gets it right here, but does Frank Foster? There is only one way to find out and that is to make every effort to see this play. © BA

“How the other Half Loves” is in repertory at the Round, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough from the 4th June to the 29th of August, 2009. Box Office Telephone: 01723 370541

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