Relatively Speaking
The Grange Players
Grange Playhouse, Walsall
WHAT a perfect way for this company to open their 54th season! Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy is loaded with laughs which the excellent cast of four exploit in some style.
The plot involves a young man who is suspicious of his girlfriend’s behaviour and decides to follow her on a weekend visit to a couple he believes are her parents...with hilarious results.
Gary Pritchard, a Jasper Carrot sound-alike, impresses as the worried Greg, with Karen Cockitt comfortable in the role of Ginny whose past turns out to contain a secret involvement with a much older man.
But the play really starts to sizzle when the action switches to the home of Philip and Sheila, where Greg thinks he is meeting his girl’s in-laws to discuss matrimony.
Lynne Young is superb as Sheila, able to switch on a string of wonderful expressions to match the crazy situations, and David Stone’s portrayal of her blustering husband, Philip, is howlingly funny.
A realistic set adds to the enjoyment of a well-staged play directed by David Stone and produced by Julie Lomas.
PAUL MARSTON in the Birmingham Evening Mail
