Writer: J B Priestley

Director: Laurie Sansom

Reviewer: Selwyn Knight

The Public Reviews Rating:

Set in the eponymous country residence of the Kirby family in 1912, Eden End sets out to expose a respectable Northern family in which each member is disappointed with choices they have made and each feels like a square peg in a round hole.

The elder daughter, Stella (Charlotte Emmerson), ran away to pursue a stage career some eight years prior to the play’s events. Despite extensive touring, she has not achieved the success for which she hoped and, with a failed marriage behind her, returns home like the prodigal son. As in the parable, she is immediately welcomed by her father, brother and maid, but her younger sister, Lilian (Daisy Douglas), is threatened by her sudden appearance and seeks a return to the status quo. She watches with growing resentment as Stella renews her relationship with Geoffrey (Jonathan Firth), for whom Lilian feels unrequited love. Feeling displaced, she tracks down Stella’s husband and invites him to Eden End, setting the scene for the events of the second half.

Priestley’s dialogue is firmly set in the era but nevertheless sparkles, still sounding fresh and relevant today under the assured direction of Laurie Sansom. The underlying humour in Priestley’s words, including his deliberate use of irony as the family look forward to a better future in two or three years’ time, innocently unaware of the cataclysmic events to come, comes through well. Whilst the first half sets the scene effectively, it lacks some pace and there seemed to be a few fluffed cues when I attended. A particularly bright spot is Carol Macready’s servant, Sarah, who fills the stage and provides superb light relief. Daisy Douglas portrays Lilian’s pique effectively in her physical performance. Throughout the play, Stella’s younger brother Wilfred (a most impressive professional debut by Nick Hendrix) successfully displays the frustrations and insecurities of a young man who feels he is not fully appreciated and who is not entirely comfortable either at home or at work away in Nigeria.

However, it is in the tighter second half that the piece really comes together and the pace picks up. The scene in which Stella’s slightly shady and rakish husband, Charlie (Daniel Betts), and Wilfred bond and come home drunk is quite hilarious. They portray the many challenges of physical co-ordination accurately without descending into slapstick. Indeed, for me Betts’ portrayal of Charlie, the likeable rogue, is the stand-out performance of the play. William Chubb, as Dr Kirby, is suitably muted, sympathetic and entirely believable as the proud parent who is nevertheless envious of Stella’s ambition and drive, and wistful for what might have been had he had the courage to make different choices. However, the strained relationship between the sisters does not come through well enough making it difficult to empathise with Lilian’s annoyance and feelings of displacement.

Sara Perks’ set mixes traditional and modern elements. Most of the action takes place on a raked platform that recreates the Edwardian drawing room accurately. The rear wall, however, is formed of vertical strips against a black background and looks incongruous. This is, nevertheless, used effectively alongside Anna Watson’s ingenious lighting design to show Lilian’s feelings of isolation and despair poignantly on a shadow screen as she retreats to her room with a convenient headache while the rest of the household celebrate Stella’s return.

This was an enjoyable evening’s entertainment from English Touring Theatre and can be recommended. On one level, it is a light piece of comic drama, but on another, it connects with the feelings many of us have of the possibilities of the path not taken and a lingering, slightly uncomfortable impression that the grass is always greener on the other side.

Runs until 25 June 2011

Eden End – Royal & Derngate Theatre, Northampton, 3.2 out of 5 based on 5 ratings

Tags: Anna Watson, Carol Macready, Charlotte Emmerson, Daisy Douglas, Daniel Betts, Eden End, English Touring Theatre, J.B. Priestley, Jonathan Firth, Laurie Sansom, Nick Hendrix, Northampton, Royal & Derngate, Sara Perks, William Chubb