BWW Reviews: COMMUNICATING DOORS, Menier Chocolate Factory, May 13 2015

Alan Ayckbourn's time-travelling 1994 play Communicating Doors is not just a typical sci-fi production. It is filled to the brim with tension, comedy and real heart as a dominatrix named Poopay is given the chance to change the lives of a number of people.

Rachel Tucker stars as Poopay, a dominatrix living in 2020, who is called upon by wealthy businessman Reece (Richard Portal) to witness his confession that he and his associate Julian (David Bamber) are guilty of murdering Reece's first and second wives. After Julian discovers that she knows too much, Poopay is forced to flee through a connecting door in the suite and finds that she's travelled 20 years into the past where Reece's second wife Ruella (Imogen Stubbs) is the hotel guest. After discovering that Ruella is also transported 20 years into the past when she uses the door, the pair team up, determined to change events and hoping to also save Reece's first wife Jessica (Lucy Briggs-Owen) in the process.

Too much time spent thinking about the time-travelling process and the changes the three women make to the current timeline can give you a bit of a headache, so it's best not to dwell on it and enjoy the action on stage. All three leading ladies produce loud laughs and one scene in particular, which takes place with the trio on the hotel's balcony, garners howls of laughter from the audience - the comedic timing of all three actresses is fantastic.

The second of Lindsay Posner's directorial efforts to open on the West End this week following Hay Fever, this production flows smoothly and although the opening scene does feel a little slow, it soon gains speed until the audience are sat on the edge of their seats in anticipation. Briggs-Owen is hilarious as naïve, ditzy Jessica, Stubbs oozes charm, sophistication and heart as Ruella while Bamber is terrifying as murdering Julian. Although much of the play's time jumping may leave some a little confused, the production's final scene is bound to leave many of the audience members feeling as though the journey was worth it.

Photo Credit: Alastair Muir