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A great
night of reservations
BEDROOM FARCE
The Gatehouse
ALAN Ayckbourn’s Bedroom Farce is a witty, well-crafted
and at times hilarious middle-class romp that bursts with good,
wholesome chaos from start to end.
Four couples, three bedrooms and a host of unspeakable antics
make the play as bouncy as a spring bed in the throes of…
but that’s the one thing that is left unspoken: the s-e-x
word, its very mention met with frowns and whispers.
In this production the action is slapstick and the lines are
delivered with impeccable intonation. It is presented as it
should be – as a very British 1970s comedy.
Fantastic performances from Harry Meacher and Annabel Leventon
as Ernest and Delia deliver some of the funniest moments of
the play; the pilchards in bed episode and Ernest’s exile
to the bathroom spring to mind. Meacher’s booming, affected
delivery could make the driest of lines sound funny and Leventon’s
gentle but definite control over her husband makes their bedroom
altercations all the more enjoyable.
Ben Farrow as Malcolm and Ava Burton as Kate add good visual
comedy in exaggerated chase scenes and play fights as well as
emphasising the play’s themes – particularly the reserved
British obsession with sex. The audience, made up largely of
internationals, warmed to this and seemed to thoroughly enjoy
the often camp performances of ‘typical’ Englishness.
Ben Watson as Trevor and Lynsey Hardwick as Susannah were the
catalysts of chaotic events and made their characters appear
very disagreeable – which was perhaps the point. The audience
shared the cast’s desire for these characters to shut up
and go home.
Superbly directed by Alexander Holt it is an enjoyable evening
of light entertainment.
March 19
020 8340 3488
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