1999: Time of My Life by Alan Ayckbourn

Time of My Life by Alan Ayckbourn.  Canberra Repertory directed by Corille Fraser at Theatre 3, March 5-27, 1999, Wed to Sat 8pm.

    This is English middle class comedy about upward and downward mobility hung on a hallstand peg, next to the wet mackintoshes, labelled "Let's make fun of marriage."  And, it is true, several members of the opening night glitterati recognised certain infidelities, brazen affairs, new-found boldness and admissions of failure among the usual Ayckbourn misunderstandings, some drunkenness and chucking up, financial mismanagement, lateness for lunch and several dogs, generally linked together by a series of incomprehensibly funny foreign (i.e. not British) waiters.

    I'm going to have to praise all three men - Ian Carcary(Gerry, the father), Duncan Ley (elder son Glyn) and Luke Cutting (younger son Adam) - for effectively playing the straight men for the even more praiseworthy women - Jenny Ongley-Houston (Laura, the mother), Melissa Planten (Stephanie, married to Glyn) and Fiona Gregory (not married to Adam).  Though the first act took some warming up on opening night, the second moved along with the women's development as characters.

    And the five waiters played by David Bennett, Bevan Tiddent, Teddi van Bent, Dettev Bandin and Dave Tendbint deserve mention not only for their accents, but their romantic singing and rhythmic dance, and silver service hospitality.

    Don't expect anything deep from Ayckbourn.  His couple of attempts at pathos drown somewhere in a watery bathysphere.  But at least his is a well-made play which starts in the middle, stretches out in opposite directions and ends where it began.  And though one unnamable critic claimed that he slept through the first half, and one woman driver left her several passengers to find their own way home after interval, most of the audience laughed at lots of deliberately exaggerated severely prejudicial attitudes - including me.

    Of course, it would be condescending of me to say that this is the sort of play that Repertory ought to be doing - since none of the professionals would touch it - but surely there has to be a place for a relaxing insignificant night of laughter after a hard and serious day's work in academia, consultancy and politics.  Bob McMullan thought so - I saw him there - so why shouldn't you?

© Frank McKone, Canberra