Alan Ayckbourn’s most recent plays have received some very poor reviews on these pages over the past couple of years. After establishing an incomparable position in popular British theatre in the sixties, seventies and into the eighties, it was a shame to see such a distinguished and successful playwright tarnishing his own reputation. In the past decade or two he has been churning out plays, some of which, frankly, were not very good. In fact, sad to say, some of them were actually bad.
Absent Friends was written in 1974, arguably when Ayckbourn was at his peak – his previous two plays had been The Norman Conquests and Absurd Person Singular. So, although I had not seen Absent Friends before, it was with a light heart and carefree spring to my step that I arrived at the Everyman in the hope and anticipation of seeing vintage Ayckbourn at its very best. And, I am pleased to announce, it was.
If nothing else, Absent Friends, is a play of the 1970s. After the heady days of the sixties with Mary Quant, The Beatles and Flower Power, the 70s have, unsurprisingly, yet to find their place in history. What with flowered shirts, flares, bean bags and Jason King moustaches it is very much regarded as the naff decade. Consequently, the people and their life-styles seem a bit naff too.
The play is set chez Diana and Paul in some apparently blissful leafy suburb; but the leaves conceal vicious thorns which inevitably and irrevocably will draw blood from the complacent residents. Absent Friends is very much like the seminal Abigail’s Party – or should I say, the Mike Leigh play is very much like Absent Friends which it post-dates by three years. The protagonists are two and a half couples (one husband is at home sick) who are attending a tea party to welcome back to the fold their long-lost friend, Colin, who has recently suffered bereavement from the death by drowning of his fiancée, Carol, a couple of months earlier.
Now, Colin is the archetypal bore, so boring that he could have bored for England. Personally, I would have strangled him before he had the time to brush the crumbs of his first biscuit from his suede-fronted cardigan. But if there was one thing he was, it was resilient, putting on a brave face in spite of the tragedy. If bores can always manage one thing it’s the ability to always look on the bright side of life. So cheery is he, in fact, that he manages to set several cats among the pigeons and reduce some of his friends to tears.
The setting and costumes nicely created the seventies feel and there were some good performances. Catherine Harvey was brilliant as Diana, the painstaking though flustered and finally tearful hostess while Kevin Drury was convincing as her bullish, pub-landlordish husband, Paul. It fell to Ashley Cook to portray the boring Colin which he managed to do to excellent effect, never being boring himself. We have all known people like Colin and it can sometimes be physically painful to be in their presence, so for Mr Cook to turn him into a watchable, funny, well-meaning character is no mean feat.
Overall Absent Friends was very enjoyable and it was good to be reminded what a good playwright Alan Ayckbourn used to be. ★★★★☆ Michael Hasted 14/07/15
