Review: IONESCO - DINNER AT THE SMITHS', The Latvian House

Eugene Ionesco's brand of absurd theatre can be a little indigestible across a full length play, but there is always something going on in his stuff, a strikingly original idea never far away, a scene suddenly presented the influence of which resonates through the last 70 years of comedy. Marianne Badrichani and Edith Vernes have recognised that and created a work that presents fragments from Ionesco's oeuvre that capture those elements in an accessible, comic and sometimes wildly original format. It pays due fidelity to its sources, but it also gives the audience a great night out too.

We're ushered into the splendid dining room of The Latvian House where, glass of wine at hand, we sit at The Smiths' table as the married couple bicker, their logic fragile, their grip on reality cracking, but never shattering. The Maid and the Butler talk to us directly and fulfil their duties, but they are never quite subservient enough to their employers and we can't work out whether they are our friends either. It's an off-centred world in which information slips and slides between fact and fantasy. Very 2017.

Soon another couple arrive (The Martins) who conduct a conversation about how their lives have coincided apparently randomly, despite the fact that they are married. There's something there that chimes with Oliver Sacks's work on neurological disorders (The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat) but also about the nature of modern life. (On a trip to Hong Kong, in a local market my son met the lad whom he sat next to at school - everyone has a story like this).

Donning blindfolds a scene is whispered to us in French, the word "chat" a continual motif. Not only did it suggest Jane Birkin's breathless vocal on "Je t'aime... moi non plus" but also the French play on words between "chat" and "chatte" - in English "cat" and "pussy" - so work that out.

A crazy fire chief cannot pronounce the letter "F" - except that he can - reminding me of a Monty Python sketch about a man who substitutes "B" for "C", an affliction that did not prevent him from attending Keble Bollege Oxford.

The company look wonderful, immaculately dressed for the environment and speak equally well in English and French - it's translated, just adding to the repetition that er... repeats throughout the show. Jorge Laguardia and Sharlit Deyzac keep us on our toes as the Butler and the Maid, while Sean Rees occasionally becomes Ionesco himself, all shy reticence as he explains his thinking by not explaining his thinking. David Mildon, Lucy Russell and Edith Vernes make up the rest of the company, handsome, witty and sexily whispery.

I confess that I don't often enjoy avant garde theatre - too much like hard work - but this is a splendid production balancing the need to reach out to an audience whilst remaining true to its roots. Roll in the intimacy of its unique venue and it's an example of event theatre that really works. Not for everyone for sure, but I expect that those who like it, will really like it - I know I did!

Ionesco - Dinner At The Smiths is presented on Fridays and Saturdays through March at The Latvian House.

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