"Relatively Speaking"

July 28, 2015 — Mistaken identity is one of the oldest plot devices in literature. Shakespeare used it to great effect, and many others have had varying degrees of success with it. British playwright Alan Ayckbourn's experiment with it in "Relatively Speaking" is highly original and very entertaining.

This production at The Barnstormers in Tamworth, New Hampshire, directed by Blair Hundertmark, is an audience-pleasing presentation. Greg (Buddy Haardt) and Ginny (Amanda Huxtable) share an apartment in London in the late '60s. Ginny is getting ready to leave for a visit with her parents at their countryside home. Greg wants to accompany her, but Ginny is insistent he stay home because her quirky parents needed to be prepared for him in advance. While they debate this, a couple of strange phone calls and a pair of slippers, owned by neither of them, found under the bed lead to raised eyebrows. In spite of all this, Greg proposes marriage, which Ginny seems agreeable to.

Ignoring Ginny's warnings, Greg travels to her parents' home and, due to a delay in Ginny's travel arrangements, arrives before her. Now things get interesting. Sheila (Dee Nelson) and Philip (John Schnatterly) have no idea who he is, but Sheila is cordial and welcoming, Philip not so much. But why has Ginny never told them about him? Why do they seem so indifferent to Ginny, almost as though they don't know her? Finally, Ginny shows up, and things get even stranger. I don't think I'm giving away too much by telling you Ginny has been secretly playing a charade, and it's about to unravel on her

The play has a lot going for it: Ayckbourn's famous comic dialog, delivered by the Barnstormers' fine cast, along with a skilled stage crew that pulls off a major scenery change at intermission, swapping one of set designer Emily Nichols' sets for something completely different.