If you despair of the TV schedules this summer, then get over to Shaftesbury Arts Centre and have a very entertaining evening watching some fine actors perform 2 plays by England’s most prolific (and funniest) living playwright Alan Ayckbourn. House and Garden play until Saturday 18th July, and if you’re lucky, you may still grab a ticket.
The plays, on separate evenings, share the same cast, characters and simultaneous action.
While marriages fall apart and political careers get ruined in the House, other mayhem is happening simultaneously in the Garden. (Don’t ask what, your reviewer won’t see Garden until tonight.)
This is live theatre at its best. Great characters, a very funny plot and some wonderful moments of farcial chaos. But it will also make you think. Ayckbourn has mastered the art of putting the English middle classes under the microscope, prodding them with a hot needle and then recording with relish, and humour, what makes them tick – and us squirm. Yes, we’re all there.
Performances begin at 7.30. And there’s an excellent Indian restaurant in the car park for a great meal afterwards. Perfect!
Shaftesbury Arts Centre 01747 854321