• Make a contribution
  • Get the Print Edition
  • Sign up for our daily newsletter
Saturday, May 24, 2025
  • Login
Reading Today Online
  • HOME
  • YOUR AREA
    • All
    • Caversham
    • Central Reading
    • East Reading
    • Katesgrove
    • Reading
    • Southcote & Coley
    • Tilehurst & Norcot
    • Whitley

    Fifteen roads seeing resurfacing as next six-week phase of improvements starts next week

    Royal Berks Charity funds new defibrillators at RBH

    Vape-related fires jump by 400% since 2020, data shows

    UTC students lead the way on sustainability at multi-academy trust summit

    Ciphr nominated for three awards at Thames Valley Tech and Innovation Awards

    Ex-police officer and comedian Alfie Moore bringing new show to Town Hall

    Tickets for RABBLE’s William The Conqueror on sale on Saturday

    Cllr Alice Mpofu-Coles elected as Mayor of Reading

    Workers ‘optimistic but overwhelmed’ about AI, new research shows

  • COMMUNITY
  • READING FC
  • SPORT
    • All
    • Basketball
    • Football
    • Rugby

    Former Reading FC manager Ruben Selles linked with League One job

    Four in a row for BAPCO

    Reading fans – you can finally dare to dream again

    Rob Couhig reveals new Reading FC CEO following takeover

    It’s a podium streak for Wokingham racing star Bobby with a win at Silverstone

    Rams RFC celebrate at end of season ball

    Lewis hits brilliant century to see Berkshire CCC beat Buckinghamshire

    ‘Without you, there would be no club’: Defender sends farewell message to Reading FC fans

    Style and splendour returns to Newbury

  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • ARTS
    • READING FESTIVAL
    • READING PRIDE
    • WOKINGHAM FESTIVAL
  • PRIDE OF READING
  • OBITUARIES
  • JOBS
  • ADVERTISE
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Reading Today Online
No Result
View All Result
Home Entertainment Arts

Brilliance between the sheets: Review of Bedroom Farce at The Mill at Sonning

Sophie Pierce by Sophie Pierce
Monday, August 12, 2024 6:23 am
in Arts, Entertainment, Featured, Opinion
A A
Bedroom Farce

Bedroom Farce

As the most intimate room of the house, our bedrooms bear witness to all our most private, most secret conversations and activities. It is where we are at our most vulnerable, most honest (or most deceptive?) and most raw.

Therefore you know a play is going to be eventful when it is set entirely in a series of bedrooms… The truth, as they say, will out.

The Mill at Sonning’s new production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Bedroom Farce depicts a hilarious-if-slightly-depressing view of middle-class marriage, all confined to the bedroom.

I am such a fan of the intimacy of the theatre space The Mill has to offer, with only a handful of rows of audience surrounding a half-moon shaped stage, which for this production has been divided into three distinct bedrooms. This intimacy perfectly lends itself to a story of this sort, where scenes move seamlessly from bedroom to bedroom as the plot unfolds across one eventful night and the following morning.

Ayckbourn’s expert depiction of character is ever-present, where the intertwined lives of four couples are played out before us by our ensemble cast. Fast-paced and brilliant, its performers superbly navigate the storyline as it occurs in real time.

Related posts

Fifteen roads seeing resurfacing as next six-week phase of improvements starts next week

Royal Berks Charity funds new defibrillators at RBH

Vape-related fires jump by 400% since 2020, data shows

UTC students lead the way on sustainability at multi-academy trust summit

The volatile marriage of Trevor (Ben Porter) and Susannah (Allie Crocker) is the much-discussed central narrative of their parents, friends and former lovers. Their love story isn’t exactly one we are rooting for, but I loved the mad-cap energy between the pair as they handled their rollercoaster of a romance.

The brilliance of Ayckbourn’s character study, however, puts all relationships under the microscope, and the marital shortcomings of this central relationship also expose the cracks in those around them.

The ageing Ernest (Stuart Fox) and Delia (Julia Hills) have shades of Basil and Sybil Fawlty about their performance, with some of the best one-liners coming from their bedroom. Romance may have been replaced by late-night pilchard snacking, but I found their scenes to be especially brilliant.

The bed-bound Nick (Damien Matthews) and his long-suffering partner Jan (Georgia Burnell) have both settled for second best in their relationships, but their performances were first class, delivering some of my favourite moments of physical comedy.

And even joyful new homeowners Malcolm (Antony Eden) and Kate (Rhiannon Handy) who at first glance seem the least problematic discover their marriage is not without flaw: her mind sometimes wanders to DIY during sex, while he is prone to childish tantrums when drama comes to their housewarming party.

There are no weak links in this cast, where actors bounce off each other’s energy to deliver a polished night of joyful theatre, exactly what The Mill at Sonning can always be relied on to put to bed.

Bedroom Farce runs at The Mill at Sonning until Saturday, September 21. For more information or to book your ticket, visit www.millatsonning.com.

Keep up to date by signing up for our daily newsletter

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people who have requested it.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Previous Post

VOLUNTEER CORNER: Refugee Support Group

Next Post

Stapley hands over Rams RFC captaincy to Hayman

FOLLOW US

POPULAR STORIES

  • Young man and woman attacked by group of teenagers in Reading robbery

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Former Reading FC star to become free agent following Championship relegation

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Thousands experience power outage in Reading, not expected to be fixed for hours

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Reading FC group Sell Before We Dai makes generous donation following end of campaign

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Reading FC takeover: EFL provides update as sale nears completion

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

RDG.Today – which is a Social Enterprise – provides Reading Borough with free, independent news coverage.

If you are able, please support our work

Click Here to Support RDG.Today

ABOUT US

Reading Today is dedicated to providing news online across the whole of the Borough of Reading. It is a Social Enterprise, existing to support the various communities in Reading Borough.

CONTACT US

news@wokinghampaper.co.uk

Reading Today Logo

Keep up to date with our daily newsletter

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people that have subscribed

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

The Wokingham Paper Ltd publications are regulated by IPSO – the Independent Press Standards Organisation.
If you have a complaint about a  The Wokingham Paper Ltd  publication in print or online, you should, in the first instance, contact the publication concerned, email: editor@wokingham.today, or telephone: 0118 327 2662. If it is not resolved to your satisfaction, you should contact IPSO by telephone: 0300 123 2220, or visit its website: www.ipso.co.uk. Members of the public are welcome to contact IPSO at any time if they are not sure how to proceed, or need advice on how to frame a complaint.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • MY AREA
    • Central Reading
    • East Reading
    • Bracknell
    • Calcot
    • Caversham
    • Crowthorne
    • Earley
  • COMMUNITY
  • SPORT
    • Reading FC
    • Football
    • Rugby
    • Basketball
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • ARTS
    • READING FESTIVAL
    • READING PRIDE
    • WOKINGHAM FESTIVAL
  • PRIDE OF READING
  • OBITUARIES
  • JOBS
  • ADVERTISE
  • CONTACT US
  • SUPPORT US
  • SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER
  • WHERE TO GET THE PRINT EDITION

© 2021 - The Wokingham Paper Ltd - All Right Reserved.