THEATRE 
REVIEWS
When we are Married
West Yorkshire Playhouse
Leeds
ENGLAND
Hypocrisy and the marriage contract
J B Priestley writing in the 1930s used this play “When we are Married” to make comments about how he saw the state of marriage in 1908. There have been many attempts since to get to grips with how everyone sees it, and of course they all see it differently. Men see it one way and women another, but what is for sure, the matter will never ever be resolved. This play comes close to putting all the points of view and in the process gives two hours of pleasure and food for thought to those watching and listening to the well observed comments uttered by the characters in the play.
The play is set in the West Riding of Yorkshire is a nicely mixed up plot of three couples, married in the same chapel in Clecklewyke, a town in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on the same day, who come together for their twenty fifth wedding anniversary celebrations at Alderman Helliwelll’s house in the town of Clecklewyke. The local newspaper, the Yorkshire Argos, has been invited to send a reporter and photographer to record the happy event. All looks set for an evening of fine reminiscences.
The Three Couples
Herbert Soppitt (Les Dennis) and wife Clara, or was it pronounced Claira, Soppitt (Polly Hemingway), Joseph Helliwell (Graham Turner) and wife Maria Helliwell (Tricia Kelly)and Albert Parker (Paul Bown) and wife Annie Parker (Gabrielle Lloyd)
What happens next makes the audience think about their own relationships. It niggles at things they had tried to put at the back of their mind. Hypocrisy rears its ugly head and makes them feel uncomfortable as they laugh at some of the situations and remarks. All are involved, young or old, but it is the old who take the brunt of this evening’s events.
Well seasoned actors play the three couples whose characters have evolved over the twenty five years of married life. What ensues over the evening’s events is the exposure of hidden treats and pursuits which need to be exposed for them to to be rectified and corrected in order that the coming years run smoother than those that have passed. It is a time for self reflection and learning. The Newspaper men get mixed up with the plot through ignorance of the others situations. Even the domestic staff are pulled into the plot. The photographer, Henry Ormonroyd, evolved by Tom Georgeson to perfection, probably forms the catalyst, a part played by the author in the original production when the designated actor was injured in a car accident. A memory from the past makes an appearance as Lottie Grady (Julie Higginson). The maid Ruby Birtle (Jodie McNee) shows us a typical fifteen year old, who at times gets excited and speaks too fast, losing the meaning of her words. Mix in the daughter Nancy Holmes (Claire Redcliffe), charlady Mrs Northrop (Eileen O’Brien) and the boy friend Gerald Forbes (Tom Lawrence) from the south of the England, a vicar (Richard Braine) and reporter and all is set for an unusual story line that will keep your attention for the full two hours.
The director Ian Brown works hard to get everything as it should be and succeeds most of the time, but he should do his homework on the money used at the time; the pound coin did not come into use until the director’s lifetime. The scenery by Colin Richmond showed the lack of light experienced with early electric light and got the atmosphere right. Wardrobe did a good job with the costumes, but should have hoisted Les Dennis’s trousers higher, they looked very 21st century.
So the audience were given a good repertory production which was well worth the effort to go and experience. Appreciation was shown by the audience at the end when the actors took their bows. All concerned with this production should feel well satisfied with their efforts, for it should give many people pleasure and food for thought. BA ©
“When we are Married” is at the West Yorkshire Playhouse Leeds on the 4 April 2009 until the 25 April, 2009. Ask about ticket price concessions for students and pensioners. Council car parking charge was free from 5.30pm until 10pm, unless it is suspended.
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