This month’s New Wolsey Theatre review is of The Private Ear/The Public Ear, and is provided by Sue Lewis, who was accompanied by Jessica Niblock.
The first major revival in 50 years of these intimate one-act plays by the acclaimed, multi-award winning British playwright, Sir Peter Shaffer.
Bob expects help. Charles expects proof. But in this darkly comic double bill nothing is as it seems.
Both plays pitch two characters, who are essentially each one half of a perfect whole, against each other
These two one act plays were the perfect antidote to the miserable dark Monday evening of 4 November. Set in London in the so called ‘swinging sixties’, these plays explore the changing attitudes to love and sex in that era. However, although both pieces are what might be loosely described as sex comedies, they seem remarkably chaste and dated, by today’s standards.
The first play The Private Ear is about a disastrous first date. Set in a murky London bedsit, reclusive Bob normally used to giving his full attention to his record collection, calls in a favour from his work mate Ted, his slick and confident friend, to help him treat his date, the beautiful but shy Doreen, to dinner. The shy, introverted Bob, who had met Doreen at a classical concert, thereby wrongfully assuming she is a classical music lover, invites her for dinner at his flat and cocky office friend; Ted comes along to do the cooking.
The outcome is predictably inevitable. Ted slyly muscles the hapless Bob out of the way so he can make his move on Doreen. But what I found hard to believe is that a seemingly sensitive soul like Bob would ever have given the time of day to a sexual swaggerer and uncouth philistine such as Ted. Unless of course, Ted is the very guy that Bob would himself would like to be. The piece is very well played by Steven Blakeley as the geeky, ill fated host, Siobhan O’Kelly as the nervous guest and Rupert Hill as the sly, disloyal helper.
The second play The Public Eye takes place in a London accountancy office, where uptight and suspicious Charles (Jasper Britton) is confronted by Julian, the eccentric macaroon eating, private detective who was hired by Charles to investigate his young wife’s suspected infidelity. This leads to the discovery that the real problem is not his wife’s sexual infidelity, but that it is with himself, who is “dead inside”. On the other hand, his wife craves a life filled with fun, fantasy and adventure. This has ironically been provided for her by Julian Cristoforou the all-seeing private detective who just for once in this case, wants to save a marriage rather than destroy one.
The Public Eye is essentially a single joke – a young woman who falls in love with the man her suspicious husband has hired to spy on her. It also delves deeper into the idea that what we may lack as individuals, either being repelled / or attracted by those who represent what we may be missing.
Jasper Britton is excellent as Charles, the middle aged, uptight accountant, while O’Kelly is brilliant as his coquettish wife Belinda. Steven Blakely on the other hand shows impressive versatility by his reincarnation as Julian Cristoforou the private detective.
There is not enough in either play to justify a longer running time, and I considered that in particular The Private Ear was about ten minutes too long for my liking, but the themes themselves seem to fit well together and both are enjoyable and very well performed.
I particularly liked the way I was instantly transported back into the sixties by the fantastic sets, right down to the posters on the dingy flat walls and Bob’s obsession with having his massive speakers equidistant from the listener.
Furthermore the scene change between the two plays, which is normally a functional necessity carried out behind the interval curtain, is made part of the performance and was in fact one the best scenes in the plays. a real joy to behold.
Both plays are definitely worth seeing and run at the Wolsey Ipswich until 9 November 2013. Go and see them if you appreciate a good drama, great acting and a sense of irony and fun from a time of great social change in this country.
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