RELATIVELY Speaking was written in the Sixties and both the plot and the morals may seem somewhat dated today, so that to appreciate it or otherwise one has to treat it as a period comedy and remember (if you are old enough!) the swinging Sixties, psychadelia, flower power, The Beatles and all that.

Greg (Robin Whiting) and Ginny (Siobhan Hewlett) are about to be married, though she is vague about her relationship with her mother and father whom she alleges live in the country and whom she doesn’t want him to meet.

She leaves to spend the day with them and Greg, who appears a bit dim, follows. The house he goes to is owned by Sheila (Diana Fletcher) and Philip (Peter Bowles) (who has been having an affair with Ginny). Arriving before her, Greg bewilders Sheila and Philip by asking them for their ‘daughter’s’ hand-in-marriage, causing a series of confusions and misunderstandings which are only semi-satisfactorily resolved at the fall of the curtain.

Philip is an archetypal Peter Bowles part and he runs his usual gamut of grumpiness and charm with aplomb. His scenes with Diana Fletcher are a joy as they skate around their matrimonial difficulties over a veneer of domestic conversation.

Diane Fletcher as Phillip’s long suffering wife, Sheila, is the typical shire’s wife – a little dotty but with a grasp on the realities of life and the things that matter. Nothing appears to faze her and she copes with the appearance of two people she has never seen before with the regulation politeness of a well brought up middle-class lady. A delightful performance and one which plays a major part in holding the play and its nebulous plot together.

Robin Whiting, as the innocent Greg, superbly confident in his belief that he is in the company of his intended’s parents and never managing to pick up the nuances of his conversations with them, is another brilliantly played comedy performance.

The only disappointment to me was Siobhan Hewlett, as the promiscuous Ginny. She lacked the confidence of the others and her scenes with both Peter Bowles and Robin Whiting failed to sparkle as they should have done.

Designer Paul Farnsworth’s contrasting sets – the Sixties bohemian bed-sitter and the Wisteria clad country manor house – were just right and were most appropriate settings for the ridiculously funny happenings enacted in front of them.

Alan Strachan’s direction kept the pace going and didn’t give one time to dwell on the inconsistencies and very dated nature of the piece but made it appear fresh and bright as though it had been written yesterday.

In essence, this is a very funny evening and proves that Ayckbourn is, without doubt, one of the most entertaining playwrights of our time and that even his early works, with the right cast and director, stand the test of time. This is a good antidote to the crunch; a really happy and funny two hours in the theatre which you should not miss. Relatively speaking this is a winner!

Relatively Speaking by Alan Aykbourne,
Directed by Alan Strachan.
Designer – Paul Farnsworth.
Lighting – Leonard Tucker.
Sound – Mike Beer.
CAST: Peter Bowles; Diana Fletcher; Robin Whiting; Siobhan Hewlett.

Presented by Theatre Royal Bath Productions.
Richmond Theatre, The Green, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 IQJ.
Mon, July 21 – Sat, July 26, 2008.
Evenings: 7.45pm/Matinees Wed. & Sat: 2.30pm
Box Office: 0870 060 6651

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