ByJohn Nathan, John Nathan
The comparison between playwright Torben Betts and the much more famous Alan Ayckbourn was well made when Betts's class comedy was first seen at Richmond's Orange Tree theatre earlier this year. But, in this well-deserved West End transfer, what is striking is the political undertow of Betts's play, which lifts it above what might have otherwise been a second-rate Ayckbourn-style comedy of English manners.
Class conflict erupts as the result of Oliver (Darren Strange), who has recently been made redundant, and Emily (Laura Howard) moving from London to a northern town. Not only is it cheaper to live there. Oliver's died-in-the-wool Marxist partner Emily wants to live among "real people". And they don't come more "real" - which here seems to be middle-class euphemism for vulgar and ignorant - than their new working-class neighbours Dawn (Samantha Seager) and Alan (Daniel Copeland).
It's all set during the World Cup and Betts piles on enjoyable class clichés such as Alan being a beery vulgar England fan and Oliver a diffident southern softie. Bubbly Dawn, meanwhile, is all bosom, bottom and heels while the earnest Emily is her Marx-quoting opposite.
The clash is a tad contrived. But the way condescending middle-class good intentions evolve into something pitiless and judgmental is spot on. And underpinning what becomes a hilarious conflict of cultures is each couple's heartrending experience of parenthood. Ellie Jones's production is cleverly paced with subversive fantasy dance sequences and the result is an evening that is as surprisingly funny as it is moving.