Director Peter Bull, ably assisted by William Spencer, has given this production of Ronnie Larsen’s comedy drama a ‘hands on’ approach and the two actors, Sean Huddleston as Andy, the owner of a massage salon, and Michael Batten as Mr Miller, give a kind of soap opera delivery of this very amusing dialogue; fast and punchy.
The two actors put an immediate pace on proceedings and as the play unfolds this pace gathers speed and momentum right up to the gloriously camp finale. The perceived honesty of the two characters is fabulous and what makes the play work is that Larsen has given the two actors an agenda to play out. The body language between the two is right on the money adding a continual sense of should we or shouldn’t we?
The ongoing mutual confessions that take place are brilliantly performed as Larsen suggests who is actually seducing who? This is a battle of wits, where issues of voyeurism, fantasy blending with reality, sexual awakening and frustration and domination are all weaved into the script that these two excellent performers firmly have a grip on.
To be pursued is an aphrodisiac, and there is a line in Happy Ending spoken by Mr Miller: “It’s about the connection” – and in this production Huddleston and Batten achieve that with ease.
This was so easily enjoyable; a touching comedy.
*****
Happy Ending runs to Saturday 14th August at The Garden Theatre Summer Festival, St Gabriel’s Halls, Boys Club, Churchill Gardens, Pimlico London SW1V 3AA. Tickets from www.gardentheatre.co.uk
Click on the Happy Ending banners on the Boyz site for scheduled performance times and dates.
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