Oxford Playhouse Wednesday 18th March 2009
Earlier this month the Upton Playgoers went to the Oxford Playhouse to see ‘Life with Beth’ by Alan Ayckbourn. All of it was by A Ayckbourn. Script, direction, casting. We know, because the cast told us so. (It was Meet the Cast evening.) The acting was first class, and the setting was good old-fashioned proscenium arch and a set easily recognisable as a retired couples lounge/dining room.
The theme of the play, centred on Beth, who was mourning her recently deceased husband. Or was she? Her close family – and the Vicar – were determined that she was to be Consoled. But she did not need consolation. Beth conveyed in the subtlety of her stillness, that she had felt a weight falling from her shoulders. But her secret relief was not to be …
Not rib achingly funny, there were plenty of laughs in the first act. Ayckbourn has a way of peppering his stories with laughter to leven a more serious undercurrent. The emanation of Beth’s dear departed through closed doors, put a dampener on her future prospects!
We all enjoyed an evening with the best of contemporary writing and acting. Thank you Malcolm for once again choosing the production, and organising us to get there and back. J. J.