Alan Ayckbourn outside the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough
For some time now I have wanted to visit the Stephen Joseph theatre in Scarborough. For two main reasons firstly it is the artistic home of one of our great writers Alan Ayckbourn and secondly through Ayckbourn’s influence it has become a hot bed for new modern theatre and the encouragement of new writers. My first venture to the theatre was to see his 1994 play ‘Communicating Doors,’ a time bending farce exploring the journeys of three women through a time warp that has locked itself into their hotel room. The plot line you would be forgiven for having a sense of disbelief, but the quality of the writing and the acting, create a compelling sense of intrigue and has universal resonance in the 2010 version. As Ayckbourn himself writes in the programme notes,
‘’Communicating Doors was one of the earlier plays when, encouraged by my first experiences in writing my Christmas ‘family’ pieces which generally tended to be set in fantastic and undreamt worlds, in my adult work I stepped cautiously outside the four walls of the real house or the actual garden fence. Into the realms of heaven knows where…..’’
Though Ayckbourn’s reputation is based primarily on his ability to write entertaining comedies, most critics agree that his plays convey serious themes concerning the failures and tragedies of ordinary life as well as the moral and cultural decline of society. This play is no exception with the main protagonist Poopay (Phoebe), being led into a hotel room as a dominatrix expecting to provide a service for an ‘older’ gentleman, who then gets led into a world of murder, violence and intrigue through the influence of Julian, a malevolent henchman who has influenced Reece to commit murder and kill two of his wives. Reece who is an old man when the play starts wants to put things right and attempts to get Poopay to sign a confession as a witness which is subsequently discovered by Julian. The story further unfolds when Poopay hides in a cupboard and discovers it takes her back to a night some 30 years previously, where his second wife Ruella is to be murdered. The farcical nature of the plot continues when Ruella having been convinced by Poopay of what is likely to happen then goes back a further twenty years to inform Jessica, Reece’s first wife of what will happen to her and how they could work to change the terrible possibilities of events.
As previously mentioned the fantastical the plot line does however create many questions and and offers several themes for exploration. Ruella’s insistence on honesty, decency and persistence sets off the action and brings the story to a suprising conclusion. The play suggests these verities will always triumph, even if it takes time to make it happen. Poopay is a creature of circumstance, but the play suggests that growth and change are possible when circumstances change. Reece is a man easily led by stronger personalities, suggesting that people are creatures of their associations. If we are fortunate to live with honesty, decency, and persistence, we take on those attributes. Running underneath these themes Ayckbourn offers us a quick glimpse of a bleak future, a world full of Julian’s – greedy, selfish and willing to cause murder and mayhem to reach their own ends.
Laura Donnington as Poopay and Liza Goddard as Ruella in rehearsals
Ayckbourn in his book ‘The Crafty Art of Playmaking,’ also stresses on the importance of casting and this play is a testimony to this. The acting is flawless with particular mention to Laura Doddington as Poopay and Lisa Goddard as Ruella, both beautifully playing off each other as we see the relationship between them develop throughout the play. Goddard is an acting tour de force, and perfectly coveys the feisty Ruella and her insistence on justice. Reece played by Ben Porter, both young and old is a difficult part, but he manages to convince us of his tremendous old age as well as the young honeymooner when the play goes back in time. Jessica played by Laura Howard is excellent and plays the slightly ditsy character very convincingly. Harold played by Jamie Kenna plays the hotel security guard with great aplomb. This leaves us with Julian played by Kim Wall who plays the covert and malevolent Julian with extreme and believable menace. An excellent performance.
Alan Ayckbourn directs the cast in rehearsal.
The play, however, does for me, have its faults, with a twist in the plot at the end that doesn’t quite work and suspends disbelief in a world which already is asking us to believe the absurd. The time changing theme gets a little too complicated and confused in order to create *SPOILER ALERT* the happy ending that Ayckbourn envisaged. Having said this the play for the most part delivers giving us the suspense, comedy and farce that Ayckbourn is known for as well as the moral questions he has us asking at the end of the play. Ayckbourn himself writes,
‘’Communicating Doors also contains my other strongly held belief that your own good fortune often resides in the people you meet on the way. It’s good luck to have met them : it’s good sense knowing the ones to listen too.’’
I couldn’t have written it better myself, but there again I’m not Alan Ayckbourn.
Letters from Brittanica 
