Tag: SevenThirty productions. Gladstone Theatre 2013

Absurd Person Singular: Fast Paced, Well Acted and Viciously Funny. A Winner

Absurd Person Singular: Fast Paced, Well Acted and Viciously Funny. A Winner

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Photo: Andrew Alexander

From top to bottom:

The Brewster-Wrights

The Jacksons

The Hopcrofts

Alan Ayckbourn, the master of  British Farce, has certainly inherited the gifts of  playwright Georges Feydeau who dominated the French theatre of the middle and upper classes at the turn of the century with his particular  form of farce.  As the doors slam, the dialogue bristles, split-second timing reigns and the characters enter and exit with the impeccable speed of a well-oiled machine, there is always a social commentary hidden somewhere in this mass of wound up humanity. However, contrary to Feydeau’s farces, this one cares less about who is sleeping with whom, although that does enter into the picture in a most class conscious moment where the “bit on the side” becomes a sign of upper class mobility  that excludes the tradesman and his “vulgar” ways. 

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