A fine cast of character actors elevates JB Priestley’s 1938 comedy about three pompous Edwardian Yorkshire worthies and their wives who suddenly find their 25-year marriages may not be legal. Priestley was a staple of the UK stage as recently as the 1990s but he’s little done today. So this zesty revival by Donmar boss Tim Sheader qualifies as a joyful rediscovery, albeit one that reveals the thinness of the plot.
We’re in the Clecklewyke home of smugly prosperous Alderman Joe Helliwell and his imperious wife Maria, where a giant aspidistra looms over a sofa and sideboard like a totem of propriety. A celebration is in progress: the Helliwells got married the same day as Albert and Annie Parker and Clara and Herbert Soppitt. since when the men have risen to dominate the local textile trade and the council, and the women the social scene. A photographer has been summoned to recreate the group wedding portrait.
