A Single Misunderstanding

Relatively Speaking

Welcome to London during the permissively Swinging 60’s! It’s a lovely Sunday afternoon in the Summertime and the perfect day for dining outside in the garden. The story is partially set in London, but relocates to the country, where flowers and falsehoods can freely blossom. A young man named Greg wakes up one morning to find that his live-in girlfriend is getting ready to take the train to visit to her parents. Or, at least that’s what Ginny tells her boyfriend. But there’s something fishy going on, in Greg’s opinion. 

First of all, he’s found a pair of men’s slippers under the bed that aren’t his. Then there’s their tiny flat that always seems to be filled with flowers and candy. And the fact that Ginny doesn’t seem to know where her parents live seems suspect. She’s written down their address and carelessly left it where Greg can find it. So, after Ginny sets off on foot to the train station, Greg grabs a cab, travels to said address and beats his girlfriend in a meeting with the folks. The thing is, the address isn’t the residence of Ginny’s Mum and Dad—it’s the country home of Philip her older lover and former employer, and his wife of several years, Sheila. And this single misunderstanding by Greg sets the ball rolling and keeps the confusions and delusions going for two acts of hilarity.

British writer Alan Ayckbourn may be one of the most prolific playwrights still living and producing work. As of 2015, Mr. Ayckbourn can boast 91 full-length plays. Forty of these have played London’s West End and ten have crossed the Pond to Broadway, one even earning a Tony Award. Nicknamed “The Neil Simon of Great Britain,” Alan wrote RELATIVELY SPEAKING in 1965 and it became his first major success. In addition to this comedy, Ayckbourn’s oeuvre includes such wonderful works as THE NORMAN CONQUESTS, BEDROOM FARCE, ABSURD PERSON SINGULAR and HOUSE & GARDEN. The playwright’s comedies are considered “well-made comedies,” yet they’re anything but cozy. While Ayckbourn’s plays appear light, sweet and fun at first, the playwright quietly slides darker moments of bitter recognition and edgy irritation into the whimsy. While other playwrights have earned labels like Osborne’s Theatre of Anger, Pinter’s Comedies of Menace and Beckett’s Theatre of the Absurd, Alan Ayckbourn’s works might be labeled Comedies of Embarrassment.

Artistic Director Andrew Pond has skillfully guided his cast to mine each farcical situation with finesse and artfulness. Under Mr. Pond’s strong direction, his quartet of talented actors bring Ayckbourn’s bizarre characters to life in a way that makes the absurd situations seem perfectly normal. The first scene of the play, while it does contain some humor, may disappoint with the sparse number of laughs. But get ready for the fun to begin. It doesn’t prepare the audience for all the unexpected nonsense that’s to come. As in every good play, the first scene provides the audience with the necessary exposition for them to fully enjoy the comedic events that will follow.

The cast is excellent. Comic actor supreme, Christopher John Grella has been seen at EFCT in productions of BLITHE SPIRIT and AS YOU LIKE IT, as well as at several other Chicagoland theaters. He broadly plays Philip employing the proper befuddled reactions of a middle-aged man who’s been caught in a lie. Mr. Grella would be great in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. As his wife Sheila, Kat Evans, matches Grella, scene for scene, with her much more controlled handling of the strange situation. To be clear, Sheila is the last character to understand the truth and realize all the mistaken identities. But she’s always smart, classy and in control. 

Alexis Vaselopulos nicely portrays Ginny with girlish glee. The young woman, who is the cause of the entire sticky situation, appears to be forever backpedaling in order to keep up the charade that she’s begun. Watch the actress’ face as she reacts in horror while climbing each wrung of her own ladder of deception. And Timothy Merkle, as the delightful but doltish Greg, returns to EFCT while completing his Conservatory Program at Second City. Playing the young paramour with plenty of earnestness and devotion, Greg never fully comprehends all the mistakes he’s made on this sunny, Sunday afternoon in the country. And he’s proof that ignorance is bliss.

Attending one of Alan Ayckbourn’s most popular comedies is a most pleasant way to enjoy an entertaining evening out, while heralding in the impending Summertime. The story’s lighthearted and filled with clever actors portraying four characters desperately trying to figure out and work their way through a tangled situation. It’s fascinating and funny how one single misunderstanding can develop into such a tangled web of deceit.        

Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented May 9-24 by Eclectic Full Contact Theatre at the Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 North Clark Street, Chicago.

Tickets are available at tinyurl.com/EFCTRS.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.