LONDON Classic Theatre comes to Bath Theatre Royal from Monday 5tyh to Saturday 10th May with its 25th anniversary production, Alan Ayckbourn’s Just Between Ourselves, directed by the company’s founder and artistic director Michael Cabot.
Set in 1976, the play features five birthdays, two unhappy marriages and one possessive mother. Dennis tinkers in his garage, cheerfully indifferent to wife Vera’s impending breakdown. Marjorie hovers in the background, making tea and finding fault. Neil has planned a birthday surprise for his wife, but Pam doesn’t share his enthusiasm, preoccupied by frustrations of her own.
In perhaps his most emotionally charged play, Ayckbourn masterfully evokes a world of hidden tensions and suppressed hostility as he expertly navigates the tightrope between comedy and tragedy, guiding audiences towards a hilarious, yet chilling finale.
Just Between Ourselves premiered at the Library Theatre in Scarborough on 28th January 1976. London Classic Theatre’s new tour opened at New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich in February and tours to 20 venues across the UK in 2025.
Michael Cabot says: “I’m delighted to be directing Just Between Ourselves as the centrepiece of London Classic Theatre’s 25th anniversary celebrations. Alan Ayckbourn seems to have become a regular feature for us when we hit a big milestone – we produced Absent Friends for our 15th anniversary and Absurd Person Singular for our 20th!
“Alan’s ambition, as a writer, both in terms of the worlds he creates, and the nuance of his writing is quite unparalleled. Ostensibly, his plays are comedies, dealing with marital tensions, aspiration and that very British preoccupation with class. Just Between Ourselves explores this familiar territory with aplomb, but under the surface lies another dimension, sometimes dark and often painful.”
Sir Alan Ayckbourn, one of the most widely-performed, living English language playwrights and a highly regarded theatre director, is an Olivier, Tony and Molière Award-winner who has written over 80 full-length plays, more than half of which have transferred to the West End.
The cast is: Joseph Clowser as Neil, Helen Phillips as Pam, Tom Richardson as Dennis, Holly Smith as Vera and Connie Walker as Marjorie’
Photographs by Will Green Photography