Confusions

ADC Theatre, 7.45pm, Tue 19th – Sat 23rd November  £10/8

We sit down in the ADC with lecture notes provided by a somewhat sheepish volunteer. Director George Kan perhaps felt the need to excuse the abnormal structure of the play, pleading with his audience to consider the merits of Ayckbourn’s Confusions.

On stage, however, no excuses are required. The fresher actors enchant us. There is no one real plot, but who cares? The audience came out of the ADC buzzing. The characters don’t need fireworks, jazz-hands or even a storyline to be brought to life before us.

No real spoilers, but each of the five acts provides the audience with a healthy dose of humour. Every act is different, but all focus on human interaction in a distinctly British setting (disclaimer: William wrote that line). It’s not necessarily just a comedy though, but rather a moving, and at times striking farce. The company resisted the seductive temptation of pantomimisation (it’s not a real word, deal with it) to provide some emotive drama.

Kyle Turakhia was painful to watch, and masterfully so. The director points out in his notes that the characters crave company, and perhaps Kyle’s character finds it in the audience more than on stage. His reprise after the interval, without giving too much away, is a highlight to be eagerly anticipated.

Even between acts, the freshers on stage drew the audience’s constant gaze. When scene changes went wrong, it was just funnier. Rumour has it that the technical rehearsal finished at 5.30am the day before opening night, but start to finish, everything ran to plan.

Sasha Brooks captivates the audience’s attention from the opening act, and holds it poignantly at the end despite her characters being totally different. She makes us laugh, but ignore her message at your peril. Eleanor Colville manages to create a relationship with the audience when all relationships on stage are failing. Like us, she is an observer. And like us, sometimes she can do no more than shrug her shoulders and laugh.

Even the Daily Mail has a surprise cameo role. Every aspect of this production has been thought about, tried, tested, tried again, worked to precision, worked to perfection and then exhibited with aplomb.

This year’s freshers will go far. Confusions is a wonderful beginning. Be there.