Season's Greetings -review- People's Theatre

Season's Greetings By Alan Ayckbourn

People's Theatre

Presented by special arrangement with Samuel French Ltd

Season's Greetings dates from 1980 and combines the highly comical powers of farce with the bleak view of families, marriages and ‘Christmas togetherness’

As I walked into the theatre I instantly notice the set, which was most impressive and looked very much like how you would expect a middle class family house to look like at Christmas in the early eighties. The attention to detail is quite special. The only thing missing was the television, which was mimed. This stood out to me as everything else was present, except the children who were always off screen. Some productions have included the children and while I didn't think that was particularly necessary, some sound effects would have helped create the illusion that  they were there in the background somewhere.   

"I'll tell you what I've bought them all for Christmas - a gun" 

This gem of dialogue is delivered in the very first scene in which we encounter Harvey and Bernard at Christmas Eve. Harvey, a paranoid,  cantankerous, grumpy and violence obsessed man is Neville and Phillis’s uncle, and is played excellently by Tony Neale. We see him amused by the violent and cathartic Christmas film he's engrossed in throughout the first few scenes. 

Bernard however (played by Phil Hodes) is not amused by this and isn't a fan of sex and

violence. He is a failed doctor who is obsessed with putting on a puppet show that everyone hates.

Belinda, the lady of the house (played by Anna Dobson) is married to long suffering husband Neville (played by Sam Hinton), who seems to have an OCD like obsession with fiddling and fixing things. Flirtatious Belinda, isn't exactly the typical happily married wife and the couple bicker throughout, in fact they all do.

Our second couple is Pattie (played by Kate Reilly) and Eddie (played by Reg White) Pattie is heavily pregnant and Eddie is extremely lazy and seems to want to do the bare minimum (reminds me of one of my relatives!)  I think everyone can relate to this family predicament on some level, which is a good part of the appeal. 

Rachel (played by Ellie Pullen) is Belinda's sister and has invited her potential partner Clive (played by Ben Ostell) over. He is a writer, with a solitary novel under his belt, which no one seems to have read or heard of. This queues lots of writing jokes and stereotypes about writers, one of which is a hilarious drunken misunderstanding about train drivers, which should be dated in modern times, but easily got the biggest laugh of the night. The misunderstanding is from Phyllis (played by Alison Carr) Bernard's wife, who he quit his role as a doctor to look after. She seems, amongst other problems, to have a dependency on alcohol, but then who doesn't at Christmas time, and with a family like

this.    

The play takes place over four days Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and the 27th December. For some reason they still haven't opened their presents by midnight on Christmas Day, rule of funny I guess, as this leads to a funny scene before the break, involving the unwrapped presents. 

Regarded as one of Alan's best works, all the acting is of a good standard and you believe in all of the characters and their intricacies. It's very middle class and I'm sure we can all recognise a fair few of these characters from our own Christmas gatherings. There are funny slapstick moments throughout and the soundtrack that plays before scenes is that perfect blend of misery and joy at Christmas. I found it amusing, which is not always a given for a farce, especially one written with the humour of 1980s theatre taken into consideration. If you hate Christmas you will get as much, if not more,out of this, than all those fans of yuletide. Merry Christmas everyone, only thirty nine sleeps till Christmas day!

Frank Cromartie Murphy                                              *photo credit Jim Mohan

Seasons Greetings - People's Theatre- Review

Season's Greetings

People's Theatre 
14th Nov 2017

Written by Alan Ayckbourn
Directed by Hugh Keegan


The first thing that strikes you as you take your seat for the People's Theatre's current production is the set. It is a mini reproduction of a beautiful, well-to-do home; living room with leather armchair, dining room with impressive dining suite and drinks cabinet, a hall with Christmas Tree and presents at the foot of stairs leading to a landing. Two low walls delineate the boundaries between the downstairs rooms, and two doors can be seen leading - we will discover - outside to the front of the house, and to the kitchen and the back of the house. At the top of the stairs a door leads to the out-of-sight bedrooms. As we will soon discover much of the important drama happens offstage in the rooms that cannot be seen by the audience.

A family and friends have gathered in this beautiful house to celebrate Christmas together. They all know each other well and it is clear that this is a ritual Christmas gathering. The hostess Belinda, (Anna Dobson) decorates the tree while her sister-in-law, Phyllis (Alison Carr) is in the kitchen preparing the Christmas Eve supper. Uncle Harvey (Tony Neale) watches a film on TV, drawing each member of the household in to share the action at different points: "Oh this is a good bit this, watch! There he goes! Ha ha ha!" This becomes a refrain through scene one.
It looks at first like a perfect Christmas scene, but the cracks gradually begin to show. Other than Harvey the men are no-where to be seen. Pregnant Patty (Kate Reilly) is upstairs trying to settle the overexcited children and calls for her husband, Eddie (Reg White) to come up to their son, who won't settle till he sees his father. Belinda's husband Neville (Sam Hinton) appears and is reprimanded for not serving drinks that were asked for over an hour earlier, and he and Belinda spat while Eddie finds excuses not to go upstairs. Bernard (PhilHodes) appears, flustered from the kitchen where Phyllis, a little the worse for drink has had a mishap. And so it goes...as the festive season progresses the jealousies and resentments are revealed. The only one who seems happy is Harvey as he gleefully pokes and prods at the weak spots like a boy prodding a sleeping bear with a stick.

Into this dysfunctional group comes Clive, (Ben Ostell) the new blood. The "sort of" new boyfriend

of youngest sister Rachel (Ellie Pullen). He is good looking and interesting - a writer, a divorcee -

and he has an impact on the women, and the balance, of the house. There is an immediate attraction between him and Belinda - which will lead to the hilarious climax of Act 1. There is a sense that this Christmas story has played along the same lines for several years and that this year Clive will prove to be a catalyst that changes the direction of the usual holiday bickering. Throughout the play Ayckbourn drops little hints and clues to the plot - if you are paying attention you will be able to see how the action will unfold and you just know it is not going to end well! The idea of the family Christmas from hell has become something of a stereotype, but Ayckbourn's observation of character is incisive, and he gives the situation enough of a twist to avoid the stereotype. He shows us the fragility and the strength of family relationships and he does it with immense humour - from the dancing reindeer and erratic alarm clock, to Bernard's painfully funny and farcical puppet show.

The cast performances are excellent - the timing and delivery under the direction of Hugh Keegan, are spot on. The puppet show is a tour de force as Patty confuses the pig puppets and causes chaos with her bump in the confined space, and Harvey gives a running commentary of sarcasm on Bernard's excruciatingly tedious show.

This is a great seasonal show - a perfect antidote to the tinsel and twee-ness of Christmas adverts and perfect preparation for the cut and thrust of the season of Christmas shopping!

Season's Greetings plays until 18th November.

Denise Sparrowhawk                                                                      *photo credit: Jim Mohan