Well, here’s a surprise. Michael Frayn’s exquisite farce – now celebrating its 40th anniversary – has always been exceptionally funny. But has it ever been shot through with this much pathos? It’s not the first time Lindsay Posner has directed Frayn’s farce-within-a-farce and, in terms of laughs per minute, it’s not a patch on his 2011 production at The Old Vic (I’m smiling just remembering it). But there’s something about this thoughtful and compassionate take that feels more relevant and just that bit more real.
With Felicity Kendal as the doddery Dotty Otley – a regional actor on her final tour – this was never going to be a show with clowning at its heart. There’s something Beckettian about Kendal’s performance, as she staggers about the stage with a plate of sardines, doomed to make the same mistakes again and again. Jonathan Coy plays Frederick Fellowes, an ageing actor who simply cannot get anything right. He’s often portrayed as an easy figure of fun but, here, every laugh comes with a wince.
