Priceless farce at the Mill

This play was one of Ayckbourn’s earliest successes, first shown at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, on July 31, 1969, and opening in London’s West End in 1970. It follows the interaction between three married couples who all work for the same company.

So what is this play about? It might seem a straightforward question, but this is Ayckbourn territory where comedy ensues from unlikely couplings of characters and some strange, often hilarious, behaviour. It all boils down to the actions of the three couples over four days.

First off there was a wonderfully studied portrait of a confused, absent-minded man by Stuart Fox as Frank Foster. Julia Hills, as his wife Fiona, played it as a tolerant woman, long-suffering but calm. Mostly.The second couple, Bob and Teresa Phillips, were played by Damien Matthews as a colleague of Frank’s who was having an affair with his wife, while Ruth Gibson was effective as a suspicious wife who had not worked out yet who he was cheating with. Then the third couple. Ben Porter as William Featherstone gave a strong portrayal of a controlling husband as Emily Pithon played the little mouse wife very convincingly until she rebelled near the end of the play.

So far so good, if a little confusing.

We ain’t seen nothing yet.

Frank goes through life forgetting things and wondering where his overcoat is when he is wearing it. When a visitor to his house remarked that it was a lovely room they are in he replied: “Yes, I suppose it is. I’ve seen it before though.”

Stuart Fox was always convincing as this dithering character and the interaction between the six actors was impressive all through, particularly when they had to play a scene involving two dinner parties held on consecutive nights, played on the same stage with a composite setting.

How the actors managed to negotiate playing two nights simultaneously and getting the time sequences right, I shall never know. In a really funny, well-acted play, two incidents stick out: Frank explaining to a bemused visitor that “red sky at night usually means your roof is on fire” and Ben Porter as William, in a silly voice, getting a demure Emily Pithon as Mary to hold out her hand so that he can slap it as she has been naughty.

Priceless, but then so was the whole production under Robin Herford’s skilful direction.

DEREK ANSELL