Bedroom Farce – The Mill at Sonning is ‘Highly recommended…’
Alan Ayckbourn’s ninetieth play will receive its first production at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough in a few weeks. I am old enough to have seen nearly all of them, but my favourite is perhaps Bedroom Farce which Sally Hughes’ Mill at Sonning is reviving in a stylish production by Robin Herford, who worked with Ayckbourn at Scarborough from 1976 and who has appeared, as an actor, in more Ayckbourn plays directed by the playwright, than anyone else.
Cleverly manipulating time and space, Ayckbourn explores the ups and downs of four marriages during the course of one very long night! There are Delia and Ernest, their son Trevor and his wife Susannah, young Malcolm and Kate and Trevor’s ex-girlfriend Jan (played in a previous production at Sonning by Sally Hughes) and her husband Nick. The play takes place in three bedrooms at the same time and in fact, the play is by no means a farce but a very funny, almost tragic, snapshot of four couples’ marriages.
Julia Hills plays Delia with a Joan Sanderson-like determination, always making the most of what turns up. Stuart Fox worries incessantly in the role of Ernest, continually fretting about water ingress and damp. Both are at their best in the scene where they eat pilchards on toast in bed, and Delia especially makes the very most of some wonderful lines.
In the second bedroom, we find DIY enthusiast Malcolm in the enthusiastic hands of Antony Eden, and Rhiannon Handy as Kate. They are recently married and just celebrating moving into their new house, but why on earth Kate has invited Trevor to the housewarming party is not clear. The bedroom is used more for storing guests’ coats and doing DIY than it is for sleeping!
In the third bedroom are a wonderful Damien Matthews as bed-ridden Nick and Georgia Burnell as long-suffering wife Jan. Nick has done something to his back and continually whinges, as all men are supposed to do but in reality of course do not. Jan is sympathetic – up to a point! There are two well-drawn and most amusing characters here.
Into these three bedrooms storm Allie Croker as Susannah and Ben Porter as Trevor, both creating mayhem wherever they happen to be. Porter is suitably manic and Susannah regularly bursts into floods of tears.
None of the four couples can be said to have anything like perfect marriages, Ayckbourn wringing every ounce of humour out of their situations, until we start to think about them afterwards and perhaps realise that we know people just like those in the play.
Michael Holt has designed three bedrooms which tell us a great deal about their occupants, Natalie Titchener has produced some imaginative costumes and Graham Weymouth has ensured that the lighting smoothly takes us from one bedroom to the next.
Although nearly fifty years old, Bedroom Farce wears its years lightly: it is only in the use of landline phones rather than ‘smart’ ones that show the play’s age. Otherwise, there are many laughs to be had, if that is, you have not eaten too much beforehand, as tickets include an excellent two-course buffet style meal with tables reserved. The menu this time includes a Thai curry, salmon and the theatre’s signature dish of the most delicious steak pie you will ever come across, plus vegetarian and vegan options. Then there are the desserts…
Highly recommended for a relaxing summer evening where water actually flows underneath the theatre. Perfect!
Review by John Groves
Filled with witty dialogue, cleverly constructed situations and Alan Ayckbourn’s signature blend of charm and chaos, Bedroom Farce is a roller-coaster ride of laughter, love, and lunacy.
Over one night we follow the comically entangled lives of four couples as they navigate an evening of bedroom hopping, heart-to-hearts, and tangled relationships.
Ernest and Delia, a middle-aged couple, are trying to celebrate their wedding anniversary in peace. Malcolm and Kate are dealing with a strained marriage and a malfunctioning bed. Newly engaged Jan and Nick find themselves in the middle of the chaos as they try to navigate the challenges of commitment. Troubled pair Trevor and Susannah are at the centre of the chaos as they meet the other couples, creating havoc wherever they go, leading to a side-splitting cascade of comic events.
CAST
Georgia Burnell – Jan
Allie Croker – Susannah
Antony Eden – Malcolm
Stuart Fox – Ernest
Rhiannon Handy – Kate
Julia Hills – Delia
Damien Matthews – Nick
Ben Porter – Trevor
CREATIVE
Robin Herford – Director
Michael Holt – Set Designer
Natalie Titchener – Costume Designer
Graham Weymouth – Lighting Designer
BEDROOM FARCE
By Alan Ayckbourn
The Mill at Sonning Theatre, Sonning Eye, Reading RG4 6TY
1 August to 21 September 2024