October 2010 - A Small Family Business

Tudor Players offered us a dark comedy from Alan Ayckbourn. The play, though well acted in general, suffers from being overlong.

Jack McCracken, ably played by seasoned player, Phil Gascoyne arrives home as newly crowned head of the family furniture business to a surprise party. He makes it plain in an inspirational speech that fraudulent and dishonest behaviour have no part in his plans.

When a sleazy detective, John Fereday, catches his rebellious, druggie daughter, Sam, shoplifting, it seems not everyone shares his perfect code of honour.

Admission of minor indiscretions from, his wife and elder daughter add to his incredulity. It's Jack's father-in-law Ken, however who drops the bombshell which will turn his strict ethics on their head.
Ayckbourn has a couple of identifiable stereotypes in the play. Harriet played by Pan Bush, is an incessant neurotic. She would rather watch people going to the lavatory than masticating in a restaurant. Poor Ken Ayres, a cameo from David Bramah, is affected by bereavement and forgets his own birthday.

The stand out performances, however are from two female youngsters. Sixteen-year-old Charlotte Gascoyne plays bratty Sam with poise. Her vulnerability and insecurity are hidden behind anger as she tries to shrug off her adolescence.

Siobhan Daley as bed-hopping nymphomaniac Anita is also terrific. She has a very seductive voice even for non-sexual encounters. Notice how she persuades Jack's wife to wear some of her clothes and how she asserts herself in business dealings. 

Justin and Julie-Ann are a chalk and cheese couple. They are preparing a special dinner for the first time meeting of their respective parents. She's obsessed with the finer details whilst he's far from keen about the whole thing, never mind announcing their engagement. The last straw for Justin is when she places a three-month sex embargo on him to make the wedding day special!

Things get messy when Justin lets attractive former lap dance, Paige in through the balcony, closely followed by Micky, her minder. Add Julie's parents, straight talking Yorkshireman Derek, with a penchant for laughing at his own cheesy jokes, fawning wife Dee and Justin's alcoholic mum, Arabella and a full-blown farce ensues.

Jenn Aspinall gives a relaxed, unhurried and effective performance as Paige. Her natural delivery seems at times quite lugubrious. I found myself wanting her to get out of first gear occasionally though, especially during the exotic dance, which lacked effervescence.

Edwina Gascoyne has a ball as Arabella. She's outrageously rude to people. She mixes up Julie-Ann and Paige; calling the former a dog. She then likens Derek to a garden gnome from one of his garden centres. She makes Dylan Thomas seem tee-total.

John Fereday is amusing as bigoted Derek. He starts making a racist joke whilst poor Justin cringes before Arabella thankfully interrupts with some incoherent drunken ramblings. Derek's other daughters haven't conformed to "normal roles". One is lesbian and the other has married a Chinese man. They won't be the last to stop playing the roles expected of them. 

Tim Firth, of Calendar Girls fame, has come up with a clever idea. Stage a children's nativity but have it performed by adults. The compulsory embarrassing hiccups are here but are disorientating coming unexpectedly from grown ups. There are plenty of inspired moments here. Hitchcock's Psycho music is played when the naughty and rather scary child, John Mackinder, enters the room. Jenn Aspinall deadpans, does anyone want to see spitting blood? The Star of Bethlehem has lost a tooth.

By far the best moment in the play, which kept its magic even after much repetition, was John Fereday as Herod & Joseph grinning inanely at his dad in the audience. Mrs Horrocks' classroom was typically dysfunctional. Pam Bush is pure evil as Gabriel. She bullies poor teacher's pet, Carolyn Heslop and is jealous of her having the plumb role of Mary. The children are all troubled in some way by real problems such as divorce, social deprivation and violence. They each sing a cathartic carol with the words changed to suit their individual circumstances.

The play loses momentum in the second half as the novelty of Firth's idea wears off. A clever touch at the end, which could have been developed, was seeing the same cast playing the children's parents.