Absent friends - Mercury theatre

Date seen:  1st March 2012

Venue: Mercury theatre, Colchester - Modern looking, spacious theatre. A huge, low stage, mountains of tiered seating, a bar on the 1st floor and a coffee bar on the ground floor. One complaint, I was charged 60p for a two bar kit-kat. To charge that much for a tiny thing like that is not big, is not clever and is daylight robbery. Whoever made the decision should be embarrassed and ashamed.

Set: Majestic. They had the luxury of space. But tremendous, authentic furniture all fitted the time perfectly and the set was dressed so well. I particularly liked the tea with fondant fancies, cherries on cakes and pineapple and cheese sticks. So 1970's.

Costumes: All very good. platform shoes for the ladies and a nice 1970's hairband for Diana. Paul with the open necked white shirt was just missing the medallion.

Plot: Diana has organised a tea party for Colin, an old friend of her husband Paul. Colin’s fiancé has recently drowned and the aim is to cheer him up with a gathering of old friends Paul, John and Gordon.
Gordon is, typically, ill and his wife Marge turns up instead, while Paul and John are less than enthusiastic about the party.
All this hides deep problems: Paul has had a brief affair with John’s wife Evelyn – who has brought her baby to the party and is dismissive of Paul’s love-making; Marge is desperate for a child of her own and has transferred her maternal instincts on to an increasingly dependent and accident-prone Gordon; Diana is desperately unhappy, misses her children who are at boarding school and is bullied by Paul – who she suspects of having a major affair with Evelyn; John is aware of Evelyn’s affair, but is dependent on Paul for employment. Both John and Paul are so uncomfortable with the idea of meeting Colin that they play down their friendship to the point of almost non-existence.

Performances:

Paul (Ignatius Anthony) - Complete with 1970's porno moustache, this was a very well attacked role, particularly in act one. Paul almost drifts away from the action as act two progresses, but this character was suitably annoying.

Diana (Smsndda Haberland) - A lovely performance, A real driving force at the start of the play. Her work 'off the ball' with her facial expressions and sly glances were a hoot. Her breakdown was superbly done and she was a delight.

Evelyn (Clare Humphrey) - Nicely played monosyllabic slut. She really didn't fit in with any of the characters around her, but this actress extracted all the humour with this little gem of a part.

Marge (Gina Isaac) - Described by the men as a stick insect. You could see the anguish and constant conflict going through her. Tried to be upbeat and cheerful and kept putting her foot in it. Very funny performance.

Colin (Ben Livingstone) - Perfectly pitched from the minute he burst on stage. Let all the chaos ride over him and gave an enthusiastc, upbeat performance that hit exactly the right note.

John (David Tarkenter) - Probably the hardest part to play. He got some good laughs and again, facially did some great work. I wondered if he could have been more fidgety and more under Paul's spell?

Summery: - A painful play to watch at times. this was a terrific production with a glorious set and strong acting throughout.