Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge – until November 13th 2021
Reviewed by Steph Lott
3***
When I was a child growing up in the 1970s, “The Good Life” was one of my favourite shows. As children, my brother and I loved Tom and Barbara, suburban eco warriors, and their pompous yet strangely endearing neighbours, Margot and Jerry Leadbetter. The gentle humour of the show had us in stitches all those years ago and so I was curious to know how it would translate to the stage and to a 2021 audience.
This production by Jeremy Sands is based on the classic television series by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey. Rufus Hound stars as Tom Good, with Sally Tatum as Barbara Good, his wife and Preeya Kalidas and Dominic Rowan as Margo and Jerry Leadbetter. They are supported by Nigel Betts and Tessa Churchard in various roles (more about them later!)
Like the television series, it starts with Tom and Barbara’s decision to leave their old life behind and become self-sufficient. However, this is where the play, for me, started to go wrong. There was quite a bit of time in the first act explaining what led to this decision. We then jumped to them suddenly having abandoned their old life. The overall narrative arch and development of the story was absent in this adaptation. The audience were presented with a series of set pieces, which, whilst some were amusing, did not ultimately result in an entertaining comedy.
There was also an odd attempt to dive into deeper emotional issues, which I don’t believe the original tv series did (I do admit that I might have missed this having watched the series when I was 10!). Neither couple had children. Margot was glad about this. Barbara was broody. Jerry was concerned about his future employment. This was all a bit flat.
The best bits for me though were the cameos for supporting cast members Nigel Betts and Tessa Churchard. They both turned out excellent comic turns variously as a doctor, a pig man, a milkman, a cockney copper, and Jerry’s boss Sir and his wife. For me their performances were a comic highlight, along with Preeya Kalidas’ performance as Margo, and Dominic Rowan as Jerry, providing a lovely contrast as her husband. I also thought that set and costume designer Michael Taylor’s revolving scenery was ingenious and cleverly captured the contrast between the Goods’ blue country-style kitchen – complete with Aga and pine units – and the smarter floral wallpaper, expensive dining table and gleaming silver in the Leadbetter household. The cast have wonderful 70s gear: Margo’s in a wide-legged pantsuit and dangly earrings, Jerry sports a green velvet jacket and bow tie, Barbara wears dungarees and homemade green jumper, and Tom’s in jeans and a cap. I also noticed Barbara’s mittens, dungarees and boiler suits which I remembered fondly from the series.
I kept wondering what someone would think of this production if they hadn’t seen the original. I kept flicking to and fro between trying to experience this production as if I had never seen the tv series, and comparing it to the original series and characters which I loved so much as a child. It didn’t matter. Whichever way I tried to view it, I just didn’t warm to it.