Whilst a storm gathers force outside their Docklands apartment, the newly-engaged Justin and Julie-Ann — they’re in IT, you know — are preparing for a very special dinner. It’s time to get to know the respective parents and on an occasion like this, everything has to be just right. Read more …
Only there’s a pudding fork missing. And a woman has just fallen onto their balcony.
The new arrival - who has quite literally dropped in from the flat above – is former lapdancer Paige Petite, on the run from her abusive, boxing promoter boyfriend. But Paige’s escape is short-lived . . . and it’s only moments before the shape of her menacing, none-too-sharp ‘bodyguard’, Micky Rale, fills the doorway.
No sooner have Justin and Julie-Ann discovered their unexpected guests, than Julie-Ann’s parents, Dee and Derek arrive (Derek’s big in garden centres in Doncaster, by the way). And hot on their heels – and all the way from Godalming – comes Justin’s flamboyant mother, Arabella, who appears to be...well, several drinks ahead of everyone else.
A wickedly funny and sometimes poignant story of love, lust and the hazards of dinner parties, the third part of the Damsels In Distress trilogy is classic Ayckbourn.
Baron’s productions are, typically of PFT, nicely-crafted and well-acted. However, the plays themselves, despite some undoubted moments of wit, lack the moral weight needed to be the dark, humanistic comedies intended by their author.
Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Pitlochry from Thursday June 23, 2016, until Thursday October 13, 2016. In repertory. Check website for specific dates and times.. More info: www.pitlochry.org.uk
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