Review: Absent Friends at Pinewood Theatre
Barrie Theobald • Published 2 May 2010 14:00
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HOW does one cheer up a mutual friend recovering from the loss of his recently-drowned girlfriend?
Undoubtedly the tea party arranged by neurotic Diana (an outstanding performance by Heather McGeachy) was not the way, especially as she has enough on her plate with her own marriage to an upwardly mobile husband Paul (Charles Hurcombe), whom she rightly suspects of having a series of affairs and his preference for playing squash to other matrimonial pursuits.
Of the other guests, Evelyn (Sarahlouise Stewart) turns out to be a neglectful mother to her newborn child, preferring instead to immerse herself in women's magazines and chewing bubble gum, her hilariously hyperactive husband John (Ben Sbuttoni), who reluctantly condones her dalliances with Paul, and shopaholic Marge (Emma Wyverne), more concerned about her ailing husband at home who regularly needs consoling.
With a typical Alan Ayckbourn twist, bereaved Colin (Angelus Rosenkreuz) serenely precipitates dramatic crisis as he chomps his way through the party fare completely unaware of the calamitous effect his small talk is having on the remainder of the group.
This production by the Rep College offered opportunities for the cast to develop their contrasting characters into believable individuals - something they all seized with relish.
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 29 Apr 10
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