Relatively Speaking

Synopsis

Ayckbourn's first West End hit comedy of confusion. A lazy summer Sunday in the late 60's. Ginny has fallen in love with Greg and wants Philip to leave her alone. So she sets off to see Philip and tell him once-and-for-all. Greg thinks she's visiting her parents and discovers Philips address so decides to pay a surprise visit and ask for her hand. For once, Philip's wife is still at home when Greg arrives before Ginny. Confused?

Our Review:

Anne Morley-Priestman - 24 September 2012

Ayckbourn’s first West End success came in 1967 with Relatively Speaking. This touring production by Lindsay Posner is set firmly in 1965 – that era at once more settled and more radical than 21st century hindsight occasionally gives it credit for being. The drop curtain shows a pre-M25 map of the home counties, though I did wonder, during the scene-shifting break, at the route which Ginny’s train was taking to Buckinghamshire.

The first couple we meet is the young one, on a Sunday morning following a night in Ginny’s single bed. Peter McKintosh’s set for the furnished London flat is spot on for the period, as is Kara Tointon’s Vidal Sassoon haircut and Mary Quant-inspired dress and shiny coat. Tointon has a tendency to sound shrill, not to say raucous, but that suits Ginny’s girl-about-Carnaby Street persona well enough.

Her new boyfriend Greg is a little more naïve in Max Bennett’s portrait. He ...

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Latest User Review

David Baxter - 30 September 2012:

Relatively Speaking was Alan Ayckbourn's first West End success and, as such, is a straightforward comedy with none of the darker or experimental tones of his later work. There are no grounds for complaint though as it is a superbly structured tale of mistaken identities and tangled romantic liaisons. Jonathan Coy is excellent as the pompous oaf confornted with his mistress and her fiancee he mistakenly thinks is having an affair with his wife. She is brilliantly played by Felicity Kendall who amazingly is appearing in her first Ayckbourn since the original Norman Conquests. She starts out in budding Marcia Warren mode as a rather dotty lady but it is a joy to watch her comic timing as the truth slowly dawns and she is rewarded with a killer final line. Kara Tointon makes her entrance in just a towel but that is the highlight of her performance. She is saddled with a terrible Mary Quant style wig and an indeterminate accent (as is Max Bennett) but has added a habit of over-emphasising her facial expressions. I had thought Kara might become the new Felicity Kendall but this is a step back from her excellent performance in Absent Friends. No matter though because Relatively Speaking does not feel dated in any way apart from the costumes and Lindsay Posner has produced a revival which delivers two hours of brilliant comedy....

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