image: Theatre Group
3/5 Stars
In Alan Ayckbourn’s quirky comedy A Chorus of Disapproval, young widower Guy Jones finds himself thrown into the clash of dramatic arts and sexual politics as he joins a local amateur operatic society. Director Ben Meagher has certainly been ambitious taking on a comedy that deals with difficult issues of infidelity and death, with mixed results.
Half of the play works very well, particularly the development of the characters Daffyd, Guy and Hannah. Flamboyant, proud and excessive Daffyd, played wonderfully by Billy Grace, is a great presence on the stage. Every time he appears he steals the show, reminding you of that odd person from class who is into theatre a bit too much! Daffyd is a very intriguing character with clear troubles which are effectively revealed and developed as the play continues. You quickly become attached to him, despite his annoying patriotism and fits of anger.
Subtlety is key in the play and effectively reveals the secrets the characters are hiding behind the fake smiles. Although this is mainly a comedy, issues of death, infidelity and class war are also looked at in a sensitive manner that ensures you reflect on these issues, without taking away any of the fun.
For the most part the jokes in the play work well. Some of the comedy falls rather flat or just manages to make you smirk a little, but there are other scenes to make you laugh out loud. For example, the ‘swingers’ scene is particularly funny thanks to the excellent David Ley as Guy Jones, who misunderstands the intentions of Fay. The facial expressions of Ted and Enid Washbrook also kept the audience chuckling theroughout. Their two characters are really charming and do make you smile, but fail to add anything else to the play. They are not the only ones as the majority of the characters seem to be wasting their time being there as only Daffyd, Guy and Hannah are really well developed.
It is a shame really that some of the play falls flat with misfiring jokes and wasted characters as some parts are rather brilliant. Billy Grace steals the show as the wonderful Daffyd in this average play that sadly could have been so much more.
Emily Murray