THIS wonderful farce from Alan Ayckbourn had us rocking, writes Paul Thomas.
How The Other Other Half Loves is still as relevant today as it’s original outing in 1969...why? Men and women – sadly – haven’t changed that much.
Three couples, all mismatched in their own way, two of which are involved in affairs, the third dragged into a tawdry world of lies.
We laugh because it’s funny, we laugh because it’s true.
This is farce at it’s best. Why? Because our lives are one big farce and we know it.
With this Ayckbourn the set is also the star with one stage split to reveal two living rooms as the actors come.
This is the best of farce, played stunningly by all six protagonists. It’s simple but complex and dynamic and entertaining.
This play is up there as a belter.
This cast is a cracker.
EastEnders’ Charlie Brooks is Teresa Phillips. Frank employs Bob and William and is considering William for promotion.
Bob is having an affair with the boss’s (Frank’s) wife and argues constantly with his own wife, Teresa. Frank and Fiona’s marriage by contrast is polite and distant. Mary thinks (incorrectly) that William, her husband, is having an affair.
The plot thickens when each of the adulterous parties, plays host to William and Mary at dinner parties on successive nights, both of which dinners end in disaster.
Robert Daws is Frank Foster, best known for The Royal, Caroline Lagrishe as Fiona Foster of Lovejoy, Leon Ockenden, Coronation Street’s Will Chatterton as Bob Philips, Matthew Cottle as William Featherstone, and Sara Crow, best known for her role in Four Weddings and a Funeral.
How the Other Half Loves: Theatre Royal Windsor, Wednesday, until Saturday, September 9, 01753 853888.
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