Alan Ayckbourn’s play Just Between Ourselves has taken us back almost 50 years.
Written and set in 1976, with some brilliantly performed comedic scenes.
Though with Ayckbourn there is always so much more going on beneath the characters, here it explored deeper into the lives of two unhappy marriages, one controlling mother and five birthdays covering four scenes between February and January the following year.
Set mainly in the garage, Dennis, Tom Richardson, spends most of his time tinkering on jobs, without completing anything important or getting it to work.
He has put the Mini up for sale, which his wife, Vera, Holly Smith, no longer drives, due to her illness.
She is constantly being put down by Dennis and ridiculed when she drops the teacups or does something wrong.
Neil, Joseph Clowser, arrives to look at the car for his wife, Pam, Helen Philips. Their friendship develops during the scenes focusing on different birthdays during the year.
Dennis’s mother, Marjorie, Connie Walker, also undermines Vera. Helen Philips is outstanding, providing the lighter moments of comedy.
The play was incredibly well paced, the moments of comedy are quick paced with perfect timing, then with times of silence and the slower sections as you are drawn into the darkness of the inner turmoil of the characters.
At times the audience were audible with the shock in the way that Vera‘s treated with her illness.
Well worth seeing this production, which will have you discussing the dark humour and difficult family relationships long after the show ends.
Just Between Ourselves runs until Thursday, April 17, at Darlington Hippodrome.
