Therry Dramatic Society. Arts Theatre. 18 Mar2015
It's hard to go wrong with an Alan Ayckbourn comedy. He's the master of cross-purposes.
Hence, with seasoned director Norm Caddick behind the scenes, Therry's production of Relatively Speaking does all the things it is supposed to do.
It sets the scene with the young lover suspicious of his girlfriend's fidelity when he finds slippers under the bed. Setting off to seek her father's approval to marry her, he blunders merrily in to the wrong country house wherein his pitches are misunderstood by the hapless householder as a quest for the hand of his own wife. Of course it's all frightfully English and everyone is fearfully polite, proper and hospitable. Hence, the young man is well entrenched with the strangers when the girlfriend turns up looking to terminate an affair she has been having with her boss.
Of course, nobody is on the same page, as they say in the classics.
Mayhems of misunderstanding ensue and audience members are forced to hold their sides as they crease up with laughter.
Peter Davies is a very solid Adelaide actor and this role as Philip, the English businessman in his lovely country home, may be his very finest to date. He has all the upper middle class crusty mannerisms and inflections down so precisely that one might almost identify his models.
He has the posture, the gait and even the unassailable sense of entitlement, all of which heightens and absurdity of his position. He steals the play - which is no mean feat when Rhonda Grill is on stage beside him. Grill depicts the gracious woman of the house, the stoic and hospitable wife, flawless in her good manners. Grill plays it to a tee, her comic timing impeccable. Lee Cook embodies Greg, the young romantic seeking out his future family. He's a strong player who establishes a convincing character and a nice presence. Rachel Horbelt is not a perfect piece of casting for the role of Ginny but she works diligently to give the guilty girl lots of reactive innuendo.
The Scene 1 set of the little London flat is pretty dire - but that would seem to be the general idea. Moving to the country, the facade of a darling old brick house dominates the stage, trellis with roses, park bench and patio table and chairs with the garden shed and the rest of the garden implicit on prompt. It is there that Philip retreats in his endless and futile quests for his missing hoe. Lovely soil in that part of the country, you know.
Vincent Eustice with Caddick has done well with this latter set. One could almost move in.
It's clear there has been good team work in this Therry production and, despite seeing it on preview night, it was tickety-boo in all departments - especially the funny bone.
The show should run in very nicely and, for those who like a good laugh, it is just the post Fringe ticket.
Samela Harris
When: 19 to 28 Mar
Where: Arts Theatre
Bookings: bass.net.au
