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It’s a new year, but there’s something essentially old-fashioned about this play. Premiering at the Old Red Lion pub theatre, there’s a lick of new paint to its talk of the global marketplace, recession and the challenges of being twenty-something today. But its cringeworthy birthday party from hell is pure Alan Ayckbourn.
One week into her accountancy job, and keen to impress, Diane (EJ Martin) drags boyfriend Nick (Philip Honeywell) to her new colleague Richard’s birthday party. It becomes clear that no one else from the office is coming. But the trifle really hits the fan when Valerie, Richard’s wife, shows up and recognises Nick.
Playwright David K Barnes is head writer on the podcast sitcom ‘Wooden Overcoats’ and here he ekes a lot of humour out of the sitcom standby of making conversation when you have nothing in common. In Diane’s floundering, he captures the bind of being the newbie: awkwardly proffered drinks are like turns of a thumbscrew.
But the situational comedy – nicely observed when it comes to the anxieties of millennial life – tends to bob along rather than bounce. The surprises are thinly spread, so when things escalate, everything feels a beat too long. The payoff lacks punch.
The script also leans heavily on some hoary old stereotypes, as Diane’s uptight career woman snipes with a devil-may-care Valerie. Martin (also co-producing this play with Honeywell), finds a few more shades to Diane. And Emily Stride seizes hold of the mischievous side of Valerie with fun relish.
But Liam Bewley is the secret weapon of Alice Malin’s production. As Richard, he’s brilliant, lifting every scene he’s in with a performance full of great little details. Trussed up in a tuxedo, awkwardly fiddling with his specs, he deflates like a balloon as his character’s night (and life) descends into shambles.