Just Between Ourselves – Darlington Hippodrome

Writer: Alan Ayckbourn

Director: Michael Cabot

It is always a pleasure to attend a London Classic Theatre (LCT) production. Celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, LCT has built an enviable reputation for touring classic pieces of drama and comedy at a very high standard, and happily this production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Just Between Ourselves continues this golden run. Ayckbourn has always been a prolific writer, and it’s probably fair to say that Just Between Ourselves ranks as one of his lesser-known works. All of the Ayckbourn hallmarks are present though: strained relationships, awkward social situations, witty dialogue, and a little dash of farce.

First presented in 1976, this play addresses something rarely discussed back then: mental health. Although now a common subject and much more spoken about these days, five decades ago at least in the UK, there was still commonly an attitude of any mental health issues being curable by a good laugh and a nice cup of tea. Here Ayckbourn pushes five contrasting characters together, all of whom have their own issues, and while the results may seem a little twee to today’s eyes, it does an excellent job of illustrating both how far we come and how little has changed in the last half century.

Set in an around the suburban garage-come-workshop of Dennis, we are introduced to Neil, a prospective buyer for the car that Dennis is trying to sell on behalf of his wife Vera. Brian plans to buy the car for his wife Pam for her birthday, although the two couples both quickly show strains in their respective relationships, the former of which is not at all helped by the presence of Dennis’s interfering mother Marjorie.

The cast of five are all excellent. Tom Richardson’s Dennis is the slightly boorish, constant joker who refuses to take anything seriously, although Richardson delivers a layered performance that allows one to see past the veneer to someone who is barely managing to retain this coping mechanism. Beautifully complimenting this is Holly Smith as Vera, Dennis’s overly jolly spouse who seems in a constant state of near-hysteria. Smith’s forced smile and cracking voice superbly allows the audience to understand what Dennis means when he constantly describes her as “having not been well”, and Vera’s inevitable arc allows Smith to give at first a hilarious, and then heart-breaking turn as we reach the final curtain. Injecting some masterful comic relief is Connie Walker as Marjorie, who Walker plays with a dash of Hilda Baker. Her physicality and brilliant facial expressions are note perfect, staying just of the right side of caricature. Joseph Clowser and Helen Phillips have the slightly more subdued roles of Neil and Pam: the younger couple who are experiencing marital issues thanks to Pam’s dissatisfaction at where her life has ended up, and Neil struggling to understand what he can do to help. Both perfectly embody their roles: Phillips displaying barely contained frustration (that is freed completely as the red wine starts to flow) and Clowser embodying a well-meaning but emotionally stunted and ineffectual husband.

LCT has wisely chosen to retain the time period for this production. This not only allows costume and set designer Elizabeth Wright to have some fun with the ‘70s kitsch, but also display an excellent (and rarely seen) eye for detail which is apparent right down to a correct-for-the-time Tesco carrier bag. This also extends to the impressive set, made up of the cluttered garage (complete with car) as well as the garden and the back door to the house.

This is a first-rate production of a not-so-first-rate play. Nothing Ayckbourn does is bad, but there is clearly a reason why people seem to have kept Just Between Ourselves just between themselves, and while it tackles a very important subject, in doing so it also shows its age. Michael Cabot’s strong direction rings as much out of the script as he can (including a lot of genuine laughs), but dramatically and emotionally Just Between Ourselves doesn’t really deliver particularly considering its subject matter. However, a production that’s weakest element is an Alan Ayckbourn script is obviously going be a hell of a lot better than most other things.

Runs until 17th April 2025