Three theatre shows in a week and I think I've reached my limit (though it wasn't quite as bad as when I saw two shows in one day!). But my week was capped off by going to the diddy Harold Pinter Theatre to see Absent Friends.
Ayckbourn tells the story of three couples coming together for afternoon tea to cheer up their recently widowed old friend. Sounds simple enough, but within the first five minutes, you realise to put on an appearance of support requires a lot of masks to be put on. You quickly discover that one of the women (Kara Tointon) is having an affair with the hostesses (Katherine Parkinson) husband. They are soon joined by the third woman (Elizabeth Berrington) who is married to a perpetually ill and seemingly useless husband. The two husbands joining this trio are the neglectful philanderer (Steffan Rhodri) and the useless fidgety man who knows his wife is doing naughty things with his host & business partner (David Armand). It soon becomes clear that this is a very five-some is all very unhappy with their lot in life. In fact the only happy person in the show is the man who has recently lost the love of his wife in tragically abrupt circumstances (Reece Shearsmith).
This play can only be described as tragically funny. It is a very British thing to try to ignore the elephant in the room and keep things pleasant (especially when there's tea involved), and
Ayckbourn demonstrates this brilliantly. There are plenty of cringe-worthy funny exchanges with the grieving man, which ring very true to life. All in all it must be difficult to bring out the comedy in such awful circumstances but this achieved by a brilliantly stellar cast. The women definitely play their parts well (putting the men somewhat to shame). Tointon plays the young, common, cheating wife brilliantly and without a hint of empathy, Berrington is a wonderfully lovable ditsy housewife and provides much of the comedy, and Parkinson has a brilliantly powerful breakdown (involving a jug of cream) that makes your heart break for her. Don't get me wrong, the two husbands do a good job, but the true tragedy of life is brought through by the women. Shearsmith is brilliant as the ever cheerful mourner. I saw him last year in Betty Blue Eyes, and I much preferred him in a straighter role. Your heart bleeds for him as he is stuck in-between all these incredibly tense group of unhappy people, telling them how lucky they are to have such wonderful lives.
The set is fine, though nothing to write home about (so why am I?), and is just of a typical house in the 1970s. Above them on the wall is a clock that continues to tick away in real time (I assume to accentuate the passage of time in their lives, and also to further highlight the awkward silences).
The story is essentially about the inevitable death of love in a relationship as opposed to the death of a lover, and the disenchantment unfulfilled life expectations. With a sprinkling of comedy mainly focused on societies feelings on death and mourners. Both aspects of these are captured brilliantly, both by good direction (Jeremy Herrin) and an excellent cast. I did enjoy it and would recommend it if you are a fan of straight plays, but I wouldn't say it's a must see.
Score : 6.5/10
Have you seen Absent Friends? What did you think?
Kat x
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