BWW Reviews: Alan Ayckbourn's Life of Riley Makes US Premiere @ Old Globe

Life of Riley
by Alan Ayckbourn
directed by Richard Seer
Old Globe, San Diego
White Theatre
through June 5

UK playwright Alan Ayckbourn is revered internationally as a virtuoso at penning highly comedic plays. Ayckbourn, like Neil Simon, writes funny one-liners and creates very humorous characters, but uniquely manages to surprise his fans each and every time with a new and compelling artifice. In his brilliant Absurd Person Singular, for example, three couples spend three different Christmas Eves together over the course of a few years. The Norman Conquests is a trilogy wherein each play has the same time span and series of events, but in each one we see things from a different perspective. Table Manners is in the kitchen, Living Together in the living room and Round and Round the Garden speaks for itself. Now in Life of Riley, receiving its US premiere at the White Theatre of San Diego's Old Globe, the dying man everyone is going out of their way to accommodate is never seen, but his presence is felt throughout. Riley is a dramedy with less physical comedy than other Ayckbourn pieces. Here three couples struggle to find a sense of peace and happiness outside and within the confines of their failing marriages. The action takes place outdoors in four different garden patios. It boasts a splendid cast, with superior direction from Richard Seer, and succeeds quite admirably as engrossing and entertaining fare.

The women talk disparagingly of the exclusiveness of Male Friendship with capitals M.F. putting down their husbands' lack of attention; the men seem oblivious to their wives' needs. Sounds rather typical of marrieds across the globe, but it's the strength of the fun-loving, appealing George Riley - known as a hippie Peter Pan and with little time to live - that stimulates a closer look into their problematic relationships. Are they going too far with their care and attention to him? Is it causing a further rift in their marriages? These are questions to consider for Ayckbourn is relentless in poking fun at the women and the men for their idleness and recklessly flawed behavior as each mate is quick to put the blame on the other for an imperfect union. Colin (Colin McPhillamy) is a doctor who would rather spend time synchronizing his clocks than making wife Kathryn happy. Kathryn (Henny Russell), once in love with George Riley before her current marriage, cannot tear herself away from her flask - "Just a wee one!" becomes her anthem, as she lives for the past. Jack (Ray Chambers) keeps a young mistress on the side and his wife Tamsin (Dana Green) is understandably irate and frustrated. Then there's their 16 year-old daughter Tilly (Rebecca Gold) who gets innocently caught up in George Riley's private world. Monica (Nisi Sturges), his distracted wife who has walked out on him, is torn between her obligation to him because he is dying and to her new boyfriend Simeon (David Bishins), who loves her "simply". In the end George Riley dies and all the friends come to mourn him, but only one has a real sense of how life should be lived, at least according to the Riley method. The rest settle for each other. Maybe Riley schemed it this way? Who's more content? Is it better to compromise or go out on a limb and live for the moment? Happiness is where you find it; Ayckbourn lets us decide where to lean.

Under Seer's even pacing the ensemble is superb. Russell is simply great as the deceptive Kathryn and the scene between the three ladies in Act II when they find out that George has invited all of them to spend a weekend away with him is dramatically hilarious. Knives come out, hateful remarks are hurled, and fireworks simply soar. A great example of how one spouse covers up his own guilt and tries to find blame in the other is where Jack smells the liquor in the lemonade, and without realizing it's Kathryn's glass, automatically assumes it to be Tamsin's. Ayckbourn is meticulous with all the little details. And there are also some delightful jokes about community theatre of which the characters are a part. As Colin and Kathryn rehearse for an upcoming production, the lines and pauses within their dialogue overlap deliciously with real life. Another fine Ayckbourn theatrical touch!

The play is in the round with each garden at a corner, and Robert Morgan's excellent scenic design makes each appear decidedly different; George Riley's appears well-tended and attractive whereas the others are cold and unadorned. The very fact that the play takes place outdoors and that we never see inside adds further fascination to the play's exploration of life's complexities.

Unlike many of Ayckbourn's plays which are more farcical and rely on slapstick, Life of Riley concentrates on the characters and how they relate to each other. The humor comes from within. It is a realistic comedy that will attract a middle-aged audience, those that are more vulnerable to life's ups and downs. As a result of the sacrifice and suffering, they are ultimately wiser ... yet a tad envious of the loss of youth and reckless abandonment.

 

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