Bedroom Farce

Bedroom Farce follows four couples across three bedrooms, which are shown side-by-side on stage throughout. The drama revolves around newlyweds Susannah and Trevor, each of whom is as childish and self-absorbed as the other, and who cause a chaotic sleepless night for all three other couples.

Written by Alan Ayckbourn, this revival has once again been directed by the theatre great, Peter Hall, as it was in its first run at the Prince of Wales Theatre in 1978. Indeed, everything is very 1970s, but unfortunately Bedroom Farce is stuck in its own era and has not aged well. While the predominantly septuagenarian audience chuckled away, the cheesy predictability left few laugh-out-loud moments for younger spectators. Perhaps it was profound in its early years, but its theme of the problematic marital minutiae doesn’t have much relevance today.

There’s no doubt that the staging and technicality of the script, which climaxes into simultaneous cross-scene action, is complex and well-calculated. The stand-out performance comes from Juliet Mills as Delia, whose tiny frame makes her seem like a sweet but formidable granny; the assertive shrew who has to deal with the erratic melodrama of her daughter-in-law and a passive husband who must be bossed before he does anything.

However, for a play that promises a reflection of the home’s most personal space, some of the performances are less than intimate. Julia Mallam as Kate is ceaselessly over-happy and full of energy, whilst Clare Wilkie as Jan is perpetually cold and flippant. To the effect of mounting irritation, Oliver Boot performs the role of Jan's dreamy ex, Trevor, with such impenetrable unreality that to identify with his character is impossible. Not one of them seems to let his or her guard down and always maintains a public persona – where is the sleepy, honest privacy of the bedroom?

Bedroom Farce is too ridiculous to be credible, but disappointingly falls short of achieving the dizzying heights of the truly sublime farce that the title so deliciously implies.