Theatre Royal Brighton – until 26th March 2022
Reviewed by Sue Bradley
4****
As we walk into the auditorium we are met by an elegant, beautifully furnished one-room set which clearly signals the style and context of this two-hander. This is a play where the spoken word is (nearly) everything.
The story opens with Peter Travers (Griff Rhys Jones), clearly waiting for someone. For the first few minutes, there is no dialogue – instead Griff brings his considerable comic talent to amusing us with his impatience. When Laura, his wife (Janie Dee) arrives, he is keen to be off but is instantly frustrated by her sudden and unexpected refusal to leave for their pre-arranged dinner at their friends’ house.
Peter is a successful tax adviser approaching retirement; Laura is his slightly younger wife who has made a life as a home-maker, raising the children and supporting her husband. The last of their children has just left home, they are now first-time grandparents and soon Laura’s husband will be spending a lot more time at home. This is Laura’s cue to start asking questions about her role in life, and she’s not coming up with any easy answers.
For the next hour and a half we are taken, in real time, on a light-hearted emotional rollercoaster that will twist and turn through topics as diverse as sex, creativity, self-worth, and ageing.
Belinda Lang has made a great job of translating and adapting from the French original, written by Gérard Sibleyras and Jean Dell. The dialogue zips along and the pace never drops. Griff and Janie make a likeable pair whose characters clearly love each other, even if they have forgotten exactly who the other person is. By the time we reach the final curtain, both characters have come to understand a little more about themselves and each other.
This is not a show for the young – or even the young at heart; more for those who would like to feel young at heart again. That is not to say that this play is distressing – far from it. It taps into a set of experiences with which a very many mature couples will identify, to one degree or another, and it does so in a very entertaining manner.
You are unlikely to find any answers to the deeper questions of existence. but you might just be prompted to ask some questions of yourself and your partner which it might be fun to answer.