Review: A CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL, Salisbury Playhouse

What can be more cheering on a dreary, wet evening than seeing a jolly Alan Ayckbourn comedy?

Luckily for audiences, there's no shortage of Ayckbourn material. He's penned 89 full-length plays, with over half of them transferring to the West End.

One of his most Popular Productions, A Chorus of Disapproval – a play within in a play about the Pendon Amateur Light Operatic Society performing The Beggar's Opera – was originally staged in Scarborough in 1984. In 1987, it made its way to Salisbury Playhouse.

Thirty-seven years later, A Chorus of Disapproval returns to Salisbury Playhouse. Presumably a safe banker for Wiltshire Creative (an umbrella group consisting of Salisbury Playhouse, Salisbury International Arts Festival and Salisbury Arts Centre), packed houses will raise money to fund other risk-taking enterprises.

The house is full on opening night with an audience desperate to join in the fun, but alas, the production doesn't quite deliver what's expected.

The premise of A Chorus of Disapproval is outsider Guy Jones (performed by slightly under-powered Damian Humbley) joining the local village operatic society. His wife has died and he's eager to get on with his life again.

We follow Guy's progress during the chaotic staging of The Beggar's Opera, where pimps, prostitutes and highwaymen are replaced by the village's wife swappers, property developers on the take and disillusioned housewives.

From having a very minor role with only one line, mild-mannered and good-looking Guy manages to scramble his way up the cast list to become the leading man. But at what cost when he gets caught up with various shenanigans in the community?

The problem is it's hard to root for Humbley's under-whelming Guy, even though the audience is longing to do so. He's amiable enough and his singing excellent, but he never connects with us so we care about his plight.

We also don't connect with Robert Bowman – the operatic society's despairing director, Dafydd Ap Llewellyn. He mumbles some of his lines, so it's hard to catch the punchlines. We should experience Dafydd's fury and frustration with his idiotic amateur cast more.

Having said that, it's notoriously difficult to get comic farce to work. Ayckbourn makes it look easy, but it takes tight direction, good timing and a great deal of rehearsal – all the things somewhat lacking in director Gareth Machin's production – to get things off the ground.

Mercifully, some of the cast is in the zone, including Olivia Forrest as comely barmaid/stage manager Bridget and Sasha Frost's saucy and sexy Fay Hubbard. Frost can also dance up a storm. Also, Andy Cryer's baddie builder, who insists on including ridiculous over-the-top gestures in his opera performance (which we happily witness in full in the final scene) is hilarious.

Nerdy pianist, Mr Ames (played by Ben Stock, who's also the show's musical director) gets a number of laughs and ably guides the musical content, which is the production's highlight. In a way, you just wish you were watching the players perform The Beggar's Opera.

Another positive is imaginative set design from Olivia du Monceau. She's also in charge of costumes, which are either enjoyably outrageous or suitably dull, depending on the character she's outfitting.

And after a lagging first half, which hopefully can be tightened and sharper paced, the second half is a zippier affair.

So, instead of feeling below par with rain belting down and hopes of a pleasant spring dashed, trot along to see Ayckbourn's love letter to live theatre ­where life imitates art. It will go some way to cheer you up.

A Chorus of Disapproval runs at Salisbury Playhouse until May 18

Photo credit: The Other Richard

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