A GAME OF GOLF
at
the Mercury Theatre, Colchester
012.06.13
Like
A One Man Protest
back
in
April,
this
set
of
variations
revolves
around
Miles,
the
beautifully
observed
character
whose
friendship
with
Toby
is
at
the
heart
of
this
play.
He
is
Chair
of
Governors
at
Toby's
school.
Married
to
promiscuous
Rowena,
but
secretly
in
love
with
Celia,
Toby's
wife.
Ayckbourn's
genius
allows
him
to
play
games
with
structure
and
storylines
whilst
still
drawing
lifelike
portraits
of
people
we
know,
and
exploring
their
lives
and
loves,
their
failings
and
their
foibles.
Directed
by
Robin
Herford,
the
actor
who
first
created
Toby,
Miles,
Lionel,
Joe
and
Reg
thirty
years
ago
in
Scarborough
and
the
West
End,
this
often
poignant
social
comedy
is
also
a
rare
chance
to
admire
the
technical
virtuosity
of
two
actors
who
can
inhabit
such
contrasting
costumes
and
characters.
Gwynfor
Evans,
especially,
makes
a
totally
believable
Miles
– no
groundsman
Lionel
in
this
one
– and
an
insensitive,
misogynistic
Toby.
Ruth
Gibson,
this
time
out,
gets
to
play
Celia's
unconventional
middle-class
mother
Josephine
as
well
as
the
formidable
golfing
Governor
Irene
Pridworthy.
We
see
the
forthright
Rowena,
whose
ambition
was
to
be
a
nymphomaniac,
too,
but
this
strand
really
belongs
to
Celia.
It's
her
decision
to
leave
the
cigarettes
on
the
table
which
leads
us,
and
them,
through
A
Visit
From
A
Friend,
with
Miles
awkwardly
trying
to
discuss
Toby's
inadequacies
as
Headmaster,
to
Dinner
On
The
Patio,
where
the
white
wine
flows
rather
too
freely,
absent
loved
ones
are
toasted
then
trashed,
Stendhal
is
invoked
as
the
shadows
close
in
on
the
Teasdales'
untidy
garden.
A
superbly
judged
scene.
After
the
interval,
the
golf
course:
a
bunker,
a
bit
of
rough.
Toby
and
Miles
making
their
own
way
to
the
tenth
hole.
Both
Rowena
and
Celia
are
resentful
of
the
time
these
two
old
friends
are
spending
together.
This
crucial
scene
ends
with
Rowena's
attempt
to
seduce
her
own
husband
[who's
just
had
his
second
embarrassing
outburst
to
a
much
older
woman].
Should
he
give
in
and
go
back
to
his
serially
unfaithful
wife,
or
reject
her
in
favour
of
Toby,
who
seems
to
prefer
the
company
of
chaps
these
days,
and
the
golf
course
?
In
this
version,
the
final
churchyard
scene
[Easter
Greetings]
is
somewhat
bleak,
with
Celia
grown
bitter
five
years
on,
and
Miles's
rocky
marriage
with
Rowena
simply
transferred
to
Brisbane.
Her
friends
a
new
set
of
gentlemen
callers,
his
only
real
friend
lying
under
a
gravestone
off
stage
right.
Would
we
have
preferred
A
Triumph
Of
Friendship,
where
the
two
men
set
up
an
Odd
Couple
home
together
?
Perhaps.
In
this
exploration
of
chaos
theory
and
the
role
of
chance
in
our
lives,
it
would
be
interesting
to
explore
the
aleatory
pathways
of
destiny
by
providing
a
real
choice
– the
spin
of
a
coin,
perhaps,
or
even
an
audience
show
of
hands
each
night.
But
this
compendium
has
been
a
constant
delight,
and
we
shall
miss
these
flawed
but
very
human
friends
and
neighbours,
husbands
and
wives.
There
are
sixteen
scenes,
even
a
couple
of
minor
characters,
left
to
explore.
If
we
can't
hope
for
second
helpings
next
season,
then
perhaps
a
marathon
reading
in
the
studio
at
some
point
?
this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews
and this is how it all began ...
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