Relatively Speaking

The Therry Dramatic Society’s latest production is a lively and technically polished affair, that breathes fresh life into what is, on paper, a rather formulaic farce revolving around the common narrative tropes associated with infidelity and mistaken identity.

Greg (Lee Cook) wishes to marry his long-time girlfriend, Ginny (Rachel Horbelt), despite harbouring suspicions that she has been unfaithful to him.  When Ginny announces that she is going out of town for a day to visit her parents, Greg decides to secretly follow her. Upon arriving at the country home of Ginny’s lover, Philip (Peter Davies), and his unhappy wife Sheila (Rhonda Grill), Greg assumes that the older couple must be Ginny’s parents.  A succession of hilariously awkward misunderstandings ensue, as Greg tries to convince Ginny’s “parents” of his worthiness as a husband and the other players struggle to maintain their dignity.

The script is quintessentially English, and the sometimes rather twee social mores are reflective of the 60s time period the script was written. That said, the play moves along at an amiable pace and the dialogue throughout is both bitingly witty and reasonably naturalistic.

The material is given a buoyant lift by the razor sharp comic timing and potently intense chemistry between Cook, Horbelt, Davies & Grill. Their finely nuanced performances ensure that what is NOT said – the unspoken sexual tension and quietly simmering resentment - lingers just as strongly in the audience’s minds as any of Ayckbourn’s comic zingers. Director Caddick is to be commended for coaxing performances of such astonishing depth from the cast, in addition to his visually striking blocking of each scene.

Caddick designed the sets with Vincent Eustace, their colourful depiction of an English country garden was enough to provoke applause from the audience when it was revealed. Gillian Cordell’s costumes are also impressive, subtly evoking the time period nicely, but without descending into kitsch.

All things considered, Ayckbourn fans are well served by this first rate staging of his earliest hit, and those who appreciate a gentle comedy of manners will certainly get their money’s worth from this.

Benjamin Orchard

images: L to R - Lee Cook (Greg), Rhonda Grill (Sheila) and Peter Davies (Philip) & Lee Cook (Greg) and Rachael Horbelt (Ginny).