Bedroom Farce by Alan Ayckbourn
Bedroom Farce
Talk Entertainment
Oscar E. Moore
October 15, 2008
Three bedrooms. Four couples. One kiss. One sleepless night. These are the elements of a very mild mannered BEDROOM FARCE by Alan Ayckbourn ? not seen in New York for thirty years - which has just opened at Theatre Row?s Beckett Theatre in a limited 5 week run by The Actors Company Theatre/TACT.
There is the older couple, Ernest and Delia ? wonderfully played by Larry Keith and Cynthia Harris, in their typically British bourgeois cozy and chintz bedroom preparing to celebrate their anniversary by dining out and dealing with an annoying dampness due to a leak above. There is their son, Trevor. Selfish. Spoiled. Had an unstable childhood. Prone to violence. Mark Alhadeff has all this down to a tee. He is married to Susannah. She is prone to tears. And reciting a mantra to boost her low self esteem. Eve Bianco is an absolute riot and touching at the same time. Jan, a cool and crisp Margaret Nichols is Trevor?s ex-girl friend. She still has mixed feelings about him despite being married to Nick (Scott Schafer) ? who is bed ridden with an extremely painfully bad back which leads to a hysterical scene wherein he tries to recover his reading material. Next are Malcolm (a strapping Sean Dougherty) and Kate (a wispy Ashley West) ? just newly married and giving a house warming party for their little ?love nest?. It is in this love nest that Susannah sees Trevor kissing his ex, Jan ? a kiss that sets both turmoil and laughter in motion.
Mr. Ayckbourn sets up his story and characters with deft delight resulting in a comedy that is based in mundane reality but soars to the extreme when people are put in some very odd situations.
BEDROOM FARCE is a bittersweet and humorous look at the various stages of marriage as seen through the eyes of different generations that share similar problems. Folks married for a long time. Newly married. Married on the rebound. All dealing with Trevor and his wife who are having a difficult time of it in their own bedroom.
Sex, of course, is the problem. But the subject is tamely broached. It is even spelled out. S-E-X. It seems they can?t talk about the one problem they all have in common. Much to our amusement.
The scenic design by Robin Vest is just right, affording the director, Jenn Thompson ample opportunities to keep the piece playing out like some episode of ?Keeping Up Appearances? ? which is very good indeed.