Tender is the night - Alan Ayckbourn's 91st play Earth Angel heaven sent to Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre
Thank goodness for Sir Alan Ayckbourn. His 91st play Earth Angel is heavenly, a gift from a god of playwrighting.
It sings its love song across generations – enrapturing those old enough to know every word of American doo-wop group The Penguins’ only hit – Earth Angel – and engaging those permanently attached to their smartphones.
Only Ayckbourn, who also directs the piece, can say if the play was inspired by the lyrics “Earth angel, earth angel, please, be mine.
“My darling, dear, love you all the time. I’m just a fool, a fool in love with you.”
It is in those lines that the heart of the play beats. It is a love story told in reverse. The object of retired English teacher Gerald’s passion, Amy, has died and the play opens at her wake.
The story of how they met, fell in love, lived, worked together and how he nursed her during her last months unfolds during Gerald’s conversations with a young man, Daniel, who turns up at her funeral and whom no one recognises.
That she is never seen adds to Amy’s allure and also highlights the loss Gerald and her friends feel at the passing of the woman described by neighbour Nora as an Earth angel.
The play is about grief and coping with the loss of a life partner. It is, of course, about so much more.
The appearance of the mysterious Daniel sparks suspicion and jealousy. Is he a serial killer, the head of a drug cartel wanting to use Gerald’s house as his headquarters, a burglar or an angel sent to watch over the grieving widower? Or his he none of those things?
All is revealed – but not here.
It is a play about friendship, fidelity, marital discord and harmony, law and order, the best and worst of new technology, Instagram and Facebook.
Earth Angel also asks, is there genuine goodness in the world or has everyone got an angle? For the answer/s, see the play.
It is a battle of the sexes, a kitchen sink drama and a sitting room saga – set in Ayckbourn’s favourite territory of suburbia – this time of West Yorkshire. There are twitching curtains and even more twitchier neighbours.
Conspiracy theories, police raids and shoot-outs are more frightening for their small-town setting and funnier when their big bubbles are burst.
The cast is outstanding. Russell Richardson gives a richly-layered performance as Gerald, grieving, trusting, reasonable and loving. The relationship with Daniel, played with sensitivity by Iskandar Eaton, is tender and moving.
Neighbours Nora, nosey and lonely, and Hugo, technology nerd and smartphone obsessed, are played to pinpoint perfection by Elizabeth Boag and Hayden Wood.
Light relief, snobbery, spite and spats come from Liza Goddard as a magistrate and Gerald’s sister and Stuart Fox as her retired copper husband.
Together, the sensational six provide laugh-out-loud comedy, deliver hilarious one-liners, serious showdowns and moments of contemplation and tenderness.
There are tears, laughter, love, hate, big ideas, division, reconciliation, small-town life, little victories and a huge heart in Earth Angel. It suggests, however much hurt is caused by thoughtlessness, it can be soothed: even if the balm is asking: “What would you like for lunch?”
Earth Angel is on at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until Saturday October 11. Tickets: on 01723 370541 and online at www.sjt.uk.com