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Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughA ‘sprightly comedy’ isn’t all it seems in this beautifully performed drama, which the playwright directsOn one level, Alan Ayckbourn’s 90th play is a sprightly comedy featuring a play within a play, itself described as “a sprightly comedy”. On another level it’s an exploration of the nature of imagination. What marks the difference between an individual who imagines themselves surrounded by people who are not there and a group of people who come together to pretend something is that is not?As ever, Ayckbourn does not present his audience with ideas, but with people trying to work their way through situations that both are and are not of their own making. An elderly man, Jack, wants to surprise his wife on her birthday; his friend, Ben, is helping him. A struggling theatre company that specialises in performing plays in people’s homes is touting for custom. Is their comedy what Jack is looking for? Continue reading...