SUSU Theatre Group 
Annex Theatre, University of Southampton (Highfield Campus), Southampton
David Putley 
7 May 2025
The premise for this very wordy farce is that 4 upper-class 1980’s New York couples arrive at the home of a friend, the deputy mayor, no less, to celebrate his 10th Wedding Anniversary and find their host bleeding from the head and his wife and household staff missing. The wound is superficial, as is this pretence at a plot (it is assumed a suicide attempt, which is a federal offence) as each attendee joins in an ever-widening web of lies to cover this.
Not knowing anything about the play meant for an immediate rollercoaster that erupted from Joe Hutson as Ken Gorman, who managed to draw you into the scenario with considerable ease and intrigue. Keira Robinson as his wife matched his energy with sharp repartee, always wanting vodka as a cigarette substitute. The relationship was well drawn and directed, especially the deaf scenes, and I liked how they matched and sparred with each other throughout the play. The way they walked up and down the stairs perfectly encapsulated their characters and directors Melis Ensert and Anna Wildgust are to be praised for this and other attention to detail.
The second couple to arrive are Morgan Allen and Saskia Bindloss as Lenny and Clare Ganz and both immediately grasped the nettle. Saskia was superb with her put downs, all deliciously imparted. Her general demeanour in how she sat and interacted was so well done. In contrast to her was an ever increasingly manic Morgan. He was fully energised and in character from the moment he arrived on stage, describing his BMW crash difficulties: his physical acting was very enjoyable throughout especially with the denouement monologue at the end.
As Cookie and Ernie, the next arrivals, Emily Goring and Megan Lawrie added another layer with Cookie’s back spasms causing much hilarity trying to raise herself from a chair with a very encouraging audience. Her “dotty” interactions were well received alongside general physicality in the role, and I liked the warm, tender relationship with Ernie providing a different representation than that of the other warring couples. Ernie’s monologue attempts to provide explanation were very well done.
The last couple to arrive in the First half were Alex Tsherit and Athena Vourgos as Glenn and Cassie Cooper; the dialogue between them regarding the rose crystal was excellently done. Her seduction process and his response to that was equally well delivered. And then the Police arrive in the form of James Stark and Samantha Parker which added more brevity. His line regarding promotion was well received.
Scenery as ever at this venue is ingenious especially the angle of the stairs (like those for All My Sons) and an errant swinging door. My pet peeve is the use of the atmospheric “smoke” which seemed unnecessary but seems usual in all shows amateur and professional whether the scene is inside or outside! The gunshots were well produced and timed without being too loud or jump-making which I was thankful for.
The Production Team are to be congratulated on bringing this play to life. Direction was thoughtful which helped the pace and story evolve in an ever more over-the-top manner. It is not an easy play to stage due to its need for snappy dialogue and reaction, which all the cast coped with very well. I was unsure what the relevance of character names was all about (some all beginning with the same letter) but that was more to do with the writing than with the performances. This section of dialogue didn’t seem to go anywhere for me, but I loved the 80’s soundtrack.
Overall, whilst not rock-in-the-chair hilarious, the audience were very generous with laughter reaction – this is harmless clever entertainment. More a why-dunnit than a who-dunnit, the cast did a very good job given the characters are sketchy because the momentum of the play does not allow for the audience to dwell on that aspect. The Second Act was calmer and allowed the one liners to sing through and audience laughs to follow: the somewhat lack of light and shade in delivery of lines in the first Act lost a little of the wit and style; perhaps trying too hard when the script speaks for itself. But all performed with energy and belief and carried you along, so you very much wanted to know which bonkers direction the plot was going next!
I just about got to guessing the ending moments before the action but that did not detract from the enjoyment of the journey to get there. A “Well Done” to all involved.
