THEATRE REVIEW: The Girl Next Door - The New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-Under-Lyme.

Goodness me, it has been such a long time since I was both last at Staffordshire's lovely New Vic Theatre, and watched an Ayckbourn play. It almost felt as if I were somehow also caught up in the "space timewarp contiunuum"... the premise of this evening's comedy, 'The Girl Next Door'.

Alan Ayckbourn may be an octagenarian, and this his 85th full length play, but he has lost none of his sparkle and creativity. We are presented with a classic Ayckbourn split set. The small in-the-round stage at The New Vic cleverly divided as we see the kitchens and gardens of two adjoining London town houses. The twist in this play however is that in one house it is 6 August 2020, whilst next door (accessible through a gap in the hedge) it is 6 August 1942. 

Ayckbourn skilfully compares and contrasts (without cliche) the lives we were living during our country's lockdown - complete with binge TV watching, going slightly stir crazy, having endless Zoom meetings in pajama bottoms and slippers etc - with the life a 1940's young housewife had during the war, waiting for her husband to come from the front, rationing, and dodging the German air-raids. It could have been written as a melodrama (it wasn't), it could have been a farce (it wasn't);  instead, in true Ayckbourn style it became a domestic comedy with a deal of romance thrown in for good measure. 

Rob ("Tiger") played with just the right amount of ego by the delightful Bill Champion, is a 60 year old actor, currently unemployed, and living with his sister, and slowly going mad in the same way many of us were when faced with week after week of not going out lockdown, and his ennui really has started to set in here. That is, until he sees a twenty-something young lady in next door's garden. She, on the other hand, is a down-to-earth married lady who at first has difficulty in coming to terms with the fact that somehow or other their lives have started to interact between 6 decades. Naomi Peterson plays the part of Lily with understated realism and between the two, build a lovely relationship which is a delight to watch; their chemistry and understanding of each other growing with each meeting. Superbly measured.

The cast is ameliorated by Rob's sister, Alex (Alexandra Mathie), and a very youthful, perhaps too young-looking and acting for an officer in the English army having served at El Alamein, Alf, Lily's husband (Linford Johnson), both bringing different engeries and perspectives to the play.

The short final scene is a heartwrenching gem which ties up all the loose ends - although you do have to do a little mental arithmetic to put all the pieces in place. The scene change prior to this however seemed long and a little unnecessary. Why not simply just blackout half the stage since only Rob's house was used in this scene.

Directed by Ayckbourn himself, he obviously had a much closer attachment to the text and its subtexts than others and this made the direction much more personal. However, seated where I was I was aware sadly that much of the acting was done facing away from us, meaning that I was watching the backs of heads or at least profile, and rarely saw full front of any cast member. This also meant that sometimes the voices were too quiet and didn't carry backwards towards me, so I sadly missed several lines. 

That notwithstanding however, it was a very enjoyable play, full of trademark Ayckbourn, and excellently acted and brought to life.

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall

on - 7.9.21