The Best Years of Your Life (Halesworth, Rifle Hall)

Sixteen-year old Karen (Margaret Clunie)’s big day isn’t going well. She and her male friend (Iddon Jones) intend taking each other’s virginity; all well and good except for the fact that he’s gay and doesn’t fancy her. Nancy Harris has written some cracking dialogue and the performers excel in their roles.

Kenny Emson’s 18-year old, played by Joe Cole, is on the cusp of manhood, neither child nor adult, and desperate to prove himself to his peer group. Emson’s contribution is by far the most successful of the quintet and Cole’s delivery both slick and chilling.

It’s a clear question of contrasts for Nicola Werenowska’s 20-year-old single mothers (Clunie and Rosie Wyatt), one affluent, one struggling. While the performances worked beautifully, whatever message Werenowska had intended is perhaps not immediately obvious. The Haves get an easier ride than the Have-nots? No news there – that’s been the case since the dawn of time.

Jones is back at the age of 22 with Mahlon Prince’s self-assured, cocky construction. However, the character’s bravado is skin deep and thoughts soon turn to those “forever friends”who suddenly find other diversions as teenage years fade. Prince’s work oozes poignancy and will resonate with many who have faced the same turning point.

Tom Eccleshare chose 24 for his vignette – a ramshackle affair with seemingly little structure; in fact, had Eccleshare not been credited, it might be assumed that Peter Bourke’s performance was in the main improvised. Bourke is clearly no longer 24 and this confuses until the final dénouement when he shifts into his older self to deliver a touching retrospective glance at his earlier life.

On the whole, the component parts of The Best Years of Your Life function well as individual platforms for the talents of the writers concerned. However, holistically, there might have been a little more attention paid to fundamental structure.