Escaped Alone (2016) is first in this double bill of short plays by the veteran dramatist Caryl Churchill, directed by Sarah Frankcom, the Royal Exchange’s former artistic director. Three women occupy chairs on a square of grass; Churchill’s text states they are “at least 70”. A fourth woman (similar age) introduces the action: “I’m walking down the street…” Seeing the others, she enters the garden and is greeted as Mrs Jarrett.
At the close of the play, Mrs Jarrett leaves the others as she found them and, walking out through the auditorium, tells us: “And then I said thanks for the tea and went home.” In between, the four pass the time chasing conversation topics, jibing, sharing memories, singing a song from their youth. Their disjointed dialogue feels stage-artificial, lacking the character-revealing crafting of close observers of suburban life (Alans Ayckbourn and Bennett, or Victoria Wood, for instance).
