Thursday, 7 February 2008.
The holiday season is long gone, but -- lo and behold -- there's still reason to celebrate. Alan Ayckbourn is back in the west end with a revival of Absurd Person Singular, and it's riotous holiday fun.
Though most certainly a comedy, Absurd Person Singular is ultimately something more than that. Sure, there's a laugh a minute. But underneath the laughter is a swift kick in the pants that's sure to keep you in line.
The play focuses on three couples: Jane and Sidney, who are on their way up, Geoffrey and Eva, who are somewhere on the middle of the ladder, and bank manager Ronald and his wife Marion. As we watch them interact in their kitchens on a series of Christmas Eves, we watch the dynamics shift as new money comes into its own.
Jane Horrocks steals the show at times as rubber-gloves-wearing hausfrau Jane, and Lia Williams comes in a close second as suicidal Eva, but the ensemble work is what's truly worth applauding.
It's been a while since Ayckbourn has graced the west end, but he has reason to applaud this new production of one of his seminal works. The director -- Alan Strachan -- has taken an extremely sensitive approach, attempting not only to play for laughs but to play for some degree of emotional truth. And it pays off. Haul out your stockings again, because Absurd Person Singular may have to be a last minute stuffer.
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