Old Vic, London SE1
A country house populated by three sisters and a lovelorn family so cursed with disappointment and disillusionment as to drive its members to despair.
Well, OK, two sisters and one sister-in-law. So not quite Chekhov, but director Matthew Warchus's wonderfully performed revival of Alan Ayckbourn's 35-year-old comic trilogy, with a curly-mopped, shaggy-bearded Stephen Mangan as the charming monster Norman who hits on all three women over the course of one weekend, highlights as much tragedy as comedy. Despite the pleasing '70s period detail there is no whiff of datedness. This is partly down to Rob Howell's inspired in-the-round design that not only breaths new life into Ayckbourn but into the old fashioned Old Vic, which has been turned from a cavernous and remote venue into a wonderfully intimate space. I wish all the Old Vic's plays could be seen like this.
Like all classic trilogies each of Ayckbourn's plays works well on its own, but like a treat when seen together.