Sidmouth Summer Play Festival review: 'How the Other Half Loves' by Alan Ayckbourn | Opinion

How the Other Half Loves by Alan Ayckbourn is set in two homes – that of the upmarket Frank and Fiona Foster and the younger, more chaotic Bob and Teresa Phillips.

Frank is Bob's boss and Bob and Fiona are having an affair. As the risk of discovery escalates, another colleague, the hapless William Featherstone and his wife Mary are drawn into their machinations.

The structure of the play overlaps time and space and the set is cleverly designed so that conversations in both homes happen simultaneously and two dinner parties, a night apart play out at the same time.

For this to work it requires confident direction and talented actors, both of which this production has in shed loads.

The director Rob McWhir has done a cracking job. Under his guidance the tight choreography and exquisite timing appear effortless, letting the audience sit back and enjoy the show, which it clearly does, the laughter and engagement being strong from start to finish.

This suburban comedy of manners is very much an ensemble piece, and everyone plays their part to perfection as the crossed wires and misunderstandings unravel. The adulterous couple are clearly more motivated by a desire to spice up their unexciting lives than by any genuine passion.

Fiona Foster played by Claire Louise Amias is brittle and disdainful whilst Mark Laverty's Bob Phillips is sleazy and selfish. The betrayed partners are played with pathos and depth. Sam Ellis's portrayal of Frank Foster shows his bumbling, comic side but there is vulnerability and pathos beneath it. Likewise Rosie Edwards gives a feisty, spirited performance as Teresa Phillips but at the same time the audience senses and sympathises with the emotional toll her marital meltdown is taking.

William and Mary Featherstone, played by Rachel Fletcher-Hudson and Thomas Willshire provide excellent support as a bewildered couple completely out of their depth as matters deteriorate. Their comic timing is impeccable. And as the play concludes there's a satisfying sense that at least one of the relationships in the play has had its power structure permanently changed.

How the Other Half Loves is now playing at Sidmouth's Manor Pavilion Theatre.