How the Other Half Loves, theatre review: No love lost in this sharp and funny revival of a classic

Alan Ayckbourn's comedy feels dated but is often amusing, says Henry Hitchings
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Henry Hitchings5 April 2016

Genuinely funny plays are a pretty rare commodity in the West End. That explains the enthusiasm for reviving Alan Ayckbourn’s comedies, which tend to combine technical ingenuity with dark perceptiveness.

This one, which dates from the late Sixties and originally ran for 869 performances on Shaftesbury Avenue, feels dated but is often amusing — a portrait of three very different marriages that turns into a spirited game of mixed doubles.

Nicholas Le Prevost is benign, absent-minded Frank, who is married to Jenny Seagrove’s bored and coolly regal Fiona. A touch improbably, he is also the boss of Bob and William. Bob, who is married to frustrated Teresa, is rowdy and confident. William, who is married to timid Mary, is a pedantic bully, expertly played by Ayckbourn specialist Matthew Cottle. Bob is having an affair with Fiona, and after a night of intimacy each of them separately uses William and Mary as an alibi.

This results in both Frank and Teresa inviting this crushingly dull couple for dinner. The two dinner parties happen on consecutive nights, but Ayckbourn’s clever innovation is to show them occurring at the same time, with the hosts’ dissimilar homes occupying a single space. Switching abruptly between the two, the action veers towards farce.

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1/50

Alan Strachan’s production, staunchly true to the original Sixties setting, is efficient rather than inspired and could do with more pace. But the performances are bright, with Le Prevost’s Frank delightfully hapless and Tamzin Outhwaite on song as gutsy, hot-blooded Teresa.

Though there’s not much sign of the love promised in the title, Ayckbourn does have a few sharp things to say about social class, unequal relationships and men’s insensitivity.

Until June 25, Theatre Royal (020 7930 8800)

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