Farce is alive and well and living in Pitlochry this summer. Ben Occhipinti's vision of Michael Frayn's classic is very much a period piece of its era, from the costuming, the set, and everything that lies between.
The story is easy, even if the subplots and romantic intrugues aren't... the first act shows the dress / tech rehearsal of a farce, whilst the second act shows what the play looks like from backstage during its run, and the third act takes you to almost the end of the play's run, and from the audience's perspective once again. We are shown the development of or deterioration of the relationships between the cast (and director), and how their personal lives affect their stage performances.. oh and it wouldn't be farce without an ingenue running around in her neglige and a pair of trousers falling down!
Frayn's script still sparkles, despite it being perhaps not exactly what our snowflake generation would call PC; but it is of its time, and is perfectly crafted. The cast of nine handled their roles well - it is never easy when casting a rep season, utilising the same actors and actresses for all the productions - but here the cast tackled their roles as if they were born for it, and it paid dividend. Good interaction and character development from all, managing to make their ridiculous situations believable as we followed their intertwining stories.
Some more comedy could have been elicited in certain places, and certainly the pace needed to be upped overall for it to truly be farce; but again, when each performance is a single performance with the cast performing other productions both before and after it, and with no chance for the play to "bed in" as such, this must be an nigh impossible thing to achieve.
Sound, lighting, and stage fighting were all effective and used well, and there was indeed some lovely physicality - John Cleese-esque - from Connor Going's Garry.
Pitlochry Festival Theatre's production celebrating the 40th anniversary of Frayn's farce-within-a-farce is, despite it being just a tad pedestrian and clunky at times, a very enjoyable and funny one, faithful to both playwright and era. I might suggest though that an 8pm start for such a long (3 act) play is a little on the late side.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 2.9.22
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