Stolen moments
Jeffrey Davies meets Paul Sandys, who’s starring in a new production of Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s social climbing comedy, Absurd Person Singular
ALAN Ayckbourn’s comic masterpiece of social climbing in 1970s’ suburbia, Absurd Person Singular, is taking to the stage in Bath next week. Fusing a potent mix of farce and black comedy, Absurd Person Singular directed by Michael Cabot - is presented by the highly acclaimed London Classic Theatre Company. It stars Paul Sandys, Felicity Houlbrooke, John Dorney, Helen Keeley, Rosanna Miles and Graham O’mara. Initially scheduled to tour in 2020 before pandemic restrictions closed theatres, the production is set to play 15 theatres across the country.
The plot: Three married couples. Three kitchens. Three raucous parties. Sidney Hopcroft, a full time tradesman, persuades wife, Jane, to throw a party hoping to find favour with a bank manager and local architect. As the celebrations get under way, class differences and naked ambition combine to hilarious effect as, one by one, the characters seek refuge in Jane’s kitchen. Over the next two years, the Jacksons and Brewster-wrights take turns to host festivities. But Sidney’s star has begun to rise and roles are increasingly reversed as the cracks in the other couples’ marriages begin to show.
Premiered in 1972, Absurd Person Singular was awarded the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy. It broke Broadway records in 1976 as the longestrunning comedy at the time, and it remains Alan Ayckbourn’s most commercially successful Broadway play to this day.
London Classic Theatre is presenting Absurd Person Singular as part of its 20th-anniversary celebrations. Described as a ‘masterpiece’, it remains a firm favourite with audiences everywhere. What makes it so?
“Any Alan Ayckbourn play always feels quite relevant,” said Paul Sandys.
“The dialogue is always very witty; people enjoy those kinds of conversational styles of play. Some of the scenes in Absurd Personal Singular are kind of eternal. A play written in the early ’70s feels almost like a period piece, but at the same time some of the themes are still relevant in terms of marriage, relationships and class.
“I play Sidney Hopcroft, who in terms of class is of lower status than lots of the characters. But he is trying to improve himself - trying to better himself. As we run through the play, which is set over three Christmases over three years, he is trying to climb that social ladder. He’s tenacious, but he’s also got a bit of a nasty side to him as well.”
When assuming a new role, does Paul look for aspects of himself in the character he will be ‘living with’ for the duration of a tour?
“I don’t look for it actively. But subconsciously, certainly. You perhaps recognise something when you read a script. Then it comes more naturally to you. When I read this script the character and his voice came quite naturally to me. But I’m sure somewhere there are similarities between me and Sidney. Hopefully not the nasty side,” Paul laughed, adding immediately that Sidney was ‘great fun’ to play.
Alan Ayckbourn’s plays are a study in character and everyday situations; we have all met similar characters and been in similar situations. Ayckbourn has such a wonderful observational eye for detail, I remarked.
“You’re right, absolutely and definitely this one,” Paul answered.
“The beauty of Ayckbourn’s situations and characters is that many of us have been in similar settings ourselves - and we know people just like his characters. We think, ‘that reminds me of so and so’. He looks at character and situations in detail. You know, the sort of things we do in social gatherings. Ayckbourn likes to set scenes at dinner parties. He loves to explore what people do in front of others in polite company, and then at what they do behind closed doors.”
Paul continued: “In this play, act one is going on in another room. However, what the audience sees is the kitchen and when the characters kind of flow in and out. There are lots of moments stolen when they are speaking not in front of the party, which is one of the joys of this piece.”
A combination of farce and black comedy - is that a fair summing up of the genre?
“Yes, it’s a very good way of summing it up. I like it because it is dark humour, but it’s definitely got a farcical side as well. I suppose when we say farce - and certainly when I say it - there are some things that need to take place. Some of them are almost logistical and practical. For example, in the first act of this play there are two doors on set. There’s a build-up of physical comedy that happens between the entrances and exits,” Paul explained.
“Black comedy is the things we are dealing with; there’s certainly a focus in mental health in this play. Again the comedy isn’t coming from the mental health study. It is about the fact that the other people in the play don’t notice what’s going on. That’s where the comedy comes from.”
So another great play from London Classic Theatre in its impressive milestone 20th birthday year, I commented.
“Well the current run we’re on was actually delayed from last year - the 20th anniversary would have been 2020. We were three weeks into our run when the pandemic struck and halted it. But yes, absolutely it is a celebration of the great company’s 20 years work.”
London Classic Theatre presents revered classic plays. What actually makes a play a classic?
“That is a good question. Perhaps how popular it was at the time it came out - the writer has a lot to do with it. It’s part of the canon of someone’s work. The Importance of Being Earnest is, for me, a very good comedy classic, even though we are talking about a period that’s over 100 years old now. But again there a still things in it that are relevant today.”
Paul famously played a pupil in the children’s TV favourite Grange Hill which was set in a senior school. Everyone loved that must-see teatime drama, I remarked.
“Yes. I was about 13 and for that generation onwards it was part of your childhood. I was very lucky to get that filming experience at such an early age. And it was great fun to do. I played a bully called Nigel,” he laughed, adding that he doesn’t have a favourite genre of acting because he’s very happy to perform in all genres: theatre, radio, TV and film.
“Each kind of medium has its different attractions and different styles. Certainly when I was younger, film was what got me interested in acting. But of course your training is done predominantly on stage. For me there’s a reason to love acting in all its forms,” said Paul.
An Olivier and Tony Award winning playwright, Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s 85 plays have been produced worldwide. They include The Norman Conquests, Relatively Speaking, Bedroom Farce, A Chorus of Disapproval and Communicating Doors. The year 2019 marked the 60th anniversary of Sir Alan’s playwriting debut.
The much-celebrated London Classic Theatre was launched in 2000 as a touring company with David Mamet’s Oleanna.
Absurd Person Singular is playing the Theatre Royal Bath from August 31 to September 4. Tickets can be booked on 01225 448844 or online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk