Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge – until Saturday 9th April 2022
Reviewed by Steph Lott
5*****
Peter Travers sits in his lovely living room, a gift in his hand, checking the time and waiting for someone. That someone is his wife Laura and they are going to be late for a dinner party. The couple are meeting old friends to celebrate a fabulous business deal. Then Laura, without warning, announces that she’s not going, her life is empty and that she has nothing other than a coffin to look forward to.
An Hour and a Half Late, written by Gerald Sibleyras with Jean Dell, adapted and directed by Belinda Lang, explores the marriage of Peter (played by Griff Rhys Jones) and Laura (played by Janie Dee).
When Laura refuses to go to dinner, the bickering and Peter’s cajoling descends into an existential argument about their domestic life together; their children, jobs, and possible affairs. All the while, Peter has still not given up hope that if he can get Linda through this crisis, they still might make dinner! Ninety minutes later, they’ve worked through her problem; but they’ve destroyed their Farrow and Ball painted living room, reinvented their sex life using separate rooms and squeaky floorboards, and got mayonnaise on the cushions.
I loved watching Griff Rhys Jones in action in this role. Peter is a bit annoying with his never-ending witty jabs at his wife, and his refusal to really listen to her. But Rhys Jones delivers these pot-shots with superb pace and timing and the development of the argument into a contemplation of their marriage is very natural and I think struck a chord with many in the audience. Janie Dee’s Laura is more than a match for him; she returns Peter’s jibes in kind with her hostile and petty retorts to his jokes. The pair respond each other with ease, and their effortless interaction makes the show enjoyable. The couple’s genuine love and affection is very clear. Griff Rhys Jones and Janie Dee act very well together as a couple and carry the performance with emotion and realism. It never gets too serious, but neither is it glib or trivial. You like them and care what happens.
I think there are themes this play explores which are very familiar to anyone who has been married or in a long term relationship. The words one knows to use to hurt. The subjects that have never been addressed because life gets in the way. Decisions which are taken in good faith which have unintended consequences. There is good balance struck in the play; giving a nod towards the profound, potentially sad and existential, with a witty and clever dialogue that keeps the audience chuckling all the way through.
An Hour and a Half Late is a very well-crafted attempt to explore the issues that fester in long term relationships; life, death, tidiness and the meaning of it all with two characters, ostensibly no real problems and only 90 minutes on the clock.
I found this play very funny and judging by the chuckles around me, so did the rest of the audience. I think there are conversations and arguments that are very familiar and hilarious because of that familiarity.