A Small Family Business Epsom Playhouse Wednesday, May 24, to Saturday, May 27
I saw this Ayckbourn play at the National in 1987 and because the set required an open faced, two storey house, thought it would never have an amateur production.
I was wrong and congratulations are due to Mid Surrey Theatre Company's set builders and the lighting design and crew.
It is rare when the author, the director Adrian Washbourne and cast are in such complete harmony that they can present a perfect evening of theatre.
This tragic comedy is about corruption and self justification. John Gargrave is the epitome of the upright business man Jack McCracken who begins a swift decent into the abyss trying to protect his youngest daughter Samantha from a charge of shoplifting.
The author's sharp ear for the speech patterns of the young are succinctly spat out by Samantha Pattinson.
And there was not a man in the audience who was not lusting after Helen Andrews, his sister in law, as she displays the brief black underwear, suspenders, long boots and makes frequent references to unmentionable appliances in the invisible bedroom.
Michael May played the creepy-crawly private investigator with a slimy repulsion reminiscent of Simon Cadell's in the original production.
Peter Steptoe
A Small Family Business Mid Surrey Theatre Company, Epsom Playhouse
Reviewed by Tony Flook
A Small Family Business is a perfect example of Alan Ayckbourn's rare ability to write biting satire, where humour seems to complement and even underline the serious point he is making. Jack, honest to his fingertips, takes over the running of Ayres and Graces, the family furniture manufacturing business. He discovers that the whole company is riddled with corruption, which he tries to expunge but finds that he is, himself, inexorably drawn deeper and deeper into the morass. First performed in 1987 as a comment on Prime Minister Thatcher's assertion that there is no such thing as society, only individuals and family, the point the writer makes is as valid now as it was almost 20 years ago.
A Small Family Business has an unusually large cast for an Ayckbourn play and not every non-professional group could field 13 players capable of meeting its demands. Mid Surrey showed its strength in depth, and director Adrian Washbourne was able to bring together a team with few weaknesses. Movement as well as dialogue was perfectly timed in a meticulously rehearsed, memorable, production.
The first 'star' to make its entrance - and one that made a constant impression - was the set itself. Designed by Steve Bittlestone, it used the full stage to show four rooms, on two levels, all furnished without compromise right down to their appropriate floor covering. Each area became crucial to the action in turn and even the wide central staircase was the focus of attention several times.
John Gargrave took the pivotal role of Jack in his stride, right from his first entrance when he appeared near-naked at a surprise party. Alison Hannant was a rock as his reliable wife, Poppy. Andy Diamond made the most of the role of Desmond, who planned to buy a restaurant in the Balearics despite his reputation for being an abysmal cook. He feared only one thing - his wife, Harriet, played by Pat Bittlestone, whose voice was, indeed, capable of striking terror.
Michael May was appropriately reptilian as the unsavoury investigator, Hough. Richard Essex held his infirm stance well in his cameo portrayal of Ken, the septuagenarian founder of the firm.
Helen Andrews gave a polished performance as Anita, surely the brains behind the scam, although her cut-glass voice made me wonder what attracted her to Cliff, her laid-back husband, played by Ollie Reeves.
At the end, while the rest of the family was enjoying a birthday celebration, a pool of light fell on Samantha (Samantha Pattinson), Jack and Poppy's younger daughter, the root of the family's traumas and who, we fear, will cause her parents still more heartache.