Three pieces of sweet acting
Sonya Kelly’s play might have you taking a second look at your favourite chairs. It’s an exceptional piece of satirical, madcap and thoughtful comedy, delivered as three separate half-hour plays linked by an obsession with furniture, in this Druid national tour.
The first features Ed (Rory Nolan), struggling artist, and his ophthalmologist wife Alex (Kate Kennedy), on their wedding anniversary, at an exhibition of legacy furniture, admiring an early twentieth century armchair. Kate approaches near enough to touch it, bringing an outburst of horror from Ed about the meaning of art and the fact that some things are meant to be looked at, not sat on. From there on it’s a spiky verbal punch-up between the two, as the insecure Ed splutters artistic waffle, while the practical Kate plies him with logic, making you wonder how many happy anniversaries they’re likely to have.
The second play is an exquisite screwball comedy, featuring Stef (Helen Norton) and Dee (Ruth McGill), about to launch a passionate relationship, having hooked up online. The passion hasn’t time to ignite before Stef’s obsession with mid-century Danish furniture collides with the anything-goes philosophy of Dee, especially over a purple sofa she has brought to the apartment. For Stef, it’s a monstrosity. The relationship is an hilarious downhill plunge from there. Norton mines every ounce of comedy from the simplest gesture and McGill matches her, as the pair deliver a superb comic double-act reminiscent of the heady days of Cary Grant.
The final section, a comic and thoughtful look at the human condition, has the ailing George, who describes himself as ‘an old queen’, dictating the disposal of his furniture to his nephew Michael (Garrett Lombard), who absorbs his uncle’s barbs and wicked witticisms with resignation. The main piece for disposal is a historic pink chaise longue that, according to George, came from Danny la Rue’s dressing room; Noel Coward sat on it, Judy Garland passed out on it.
It’s as if George is still holding on to it as part of life itself. But ‘furniture is not sentimental’, he says. ‘You can love it but it won’t remember who you are.’
Niall Buggy’s George is a teasing old varmint. The conversation is not all one way, however, and Michael holds his own to bring the play to an exhilarating end.