Review: ONE OF THOSE, Tristan Bates Theatre, January 27 2016

Laura, bored on the long journey from London to Penzance, strikes up a conversation with James which soon turns to her somewhat unconventional relationship with her older boyfriend and his unlikely boarding school escapades. Concurrently (presented consecutively) fiftysomething Philip is off for a dirty weekend with his paramour, Davina, the glamourpuss whose divorce proceedings he has just steered to their conclusion. Then Alice turns up...

Britain's greatest situation comedy, Porridge, started out as a one-act play set on a train, so One of Those (at the Tristan Bates Theatre until 13 February) is certainly building on strong foundations with its throwing together of needy characters on a long train journey. But writer Tom Ward-Thomas, who also plays James, goes more for the smooth comedic stylings of an Ayckbourn, rather than the crackle and fizz of Clement and La Frenais - these are middle-class problems getting the laughs.

The ensemble cast, under the assured direction of Amy Ewbank, show a keen appreciation of the timing so critical to any comedy-drama's success, with Martin Ball getting the farce elements right as the hapless Philip, Louise Bangay's Alice perfecting a disdainful look I know well from Waitrose and Emma Kelly stealing the show a little as a scarlet woman who is both brighter and more decent than she initially appears. Amy Newton is coquettishly flirtatious as Laura, but she and Ward-Thomas don't quite convince as potential lovers, the chemistry working better with Kelly as the two women recover from hangovers in the play's neat epilogue.

Comedy, especially comedy that is self-generated (ie without reliance on comic personas or formats like panto), is very difficult to pull off (otherwise there would be more of it on London stages), so Tom Ward-Thomas is to be applauded for taking on the challenge and pleasing many in the audience who, like me, recognised plenty of their own foibles in the goings-on in those train carriages. Nevertheless, he never elevates the stakes sufficiently high to generate the tension required to give some heft to the barbs and gags. Ultimately, everyone is just a bit too pleased with themselves for the comedy to bite.

Photo Jamie Scott-Smith