Review: Absent Friends

SO what is it that makes a good play? The script? The cast? The direction? The set?

The current production of Absent Friends, by the Henley Players at the Kenton Theatre, owes much of its success to a combination of the talented and enthusiastic cast and the direction of Mark Wilkins. Mark said: “This was an easy cast to direct really. I largely left them to develop their own characters.”

Whatever the recipe, it is a recipe for success. Absent Friends is the first play that Mark Wilkins has directed for the Henley Players although he has been involved with them for many years and has directed other events for other companies. Hs experience shows. He deserves to shine, so watch this space for more shows directed by him.

The set is perfect for this Alan Ayckbourn drama, set in the Seventies, although the script shows its age with references to women and marriage and with a woman's place only being in the home, etc, situations which society has sorted in the way time does. The play may have been thought-provoking in the Seventies, but today it could be a bit of yawn, were it not for the stunning performances by the excellent cast.

Tim Harling as Paul, the philandering husband, is of course excellent in every way but mention must also be made of Lucy Weeks, the disturbed wife of Paul, Siggy Lee as Evelyn who perfectly portrays the bored, all-hope-gone young woman and wife of John. Rowena McMenamin is a perfect Madge, mopping up her friends and neighbours’ tears and spills.

It is superb casting throughout the play, never more so in than with Kevin Goodfellow as the ever fidgety John. His body language and concentration on his fellow characters adds so much to the play and gave the audience so much to laugh about. Likewise, newcomer to the Henley Players, Tom Rawlinson as Colin the ever preachy, missing the undercurrents recently bereaved old chum of John and Paul – what a performance he gave.

And what of Alan Ayckbourn’s play itself? One must bear in mind that this was written in the Seventies. In the hands of a less talented director and with a less talented cast, Absent Friends could well have been consigned with other plays of the time to the bottom drawer of theatrical history. However, this production by the Henley Players rescues the play in a most entertaining form. See it and treat yourself to a good dose of a backward glance at the Seventies, with plenty to laugh about along the way.

Absent Friends is at the Kenton Theatre, Henley, until Saturday, March 29. For more information, call the box office on (01491) 525050 or visit thekenton.org.uk