Review - BEDROOM FARCE
Reviewer: GAIL SJOGREN

Bedroom Farce has heart as well as humour

Any play by Alan Ayckbourn is sure to be enjoyable and Bedroom Farce is no exception. As the title suggests, three couples brought together at an unseen party find their rather entangled relationships cause problems which are played out in their bedrooms, while an older couple provide both comment and balance.

Director Julian Oldfield’s set allows us to watch the action in three different bedrooms, moving seamlessly from the elegance of one to the disarray of another and making excellent use of the stage space available.

The actors have achieved a real rapport and all are convincing. Tim Gay is wonderful as the neurotic Trevor and is well matched with Linda Ogier as his equally neurotic wife. Michael Zala is an impatient husband confined to bed with a back injury while his wife, played by Liesl Vanderkley, tries to cope with his complaints as well as the reappearance of Trevor, an old flame.

Brendan Bawden and Peppa Sindar are the unfortunate hosts of the doomed party, and anyone who has ever tried it will have a sympathetic chuckle as Brendan’s character struggles to put together a flat-pack piece of furniture. Haydn Vincent and Jill Dunne are Trevor’s older and wiser parents whose frustrations with the younger generation will be familiar to many. Together they all provide plenty of laughs but also insights into marriages both successful and struggling. There is heart as well as humour in this play.

At this busy time of year most of us look for entertainment rather than deep and serious drama. Bedroom Farce provides a welcome and light hearted evening out and again shows the versatility of the Ballarat National Theatre after the great success of their previous production The Mousetrap.