ALAN Ayckbourn’s hilarious thriller Communicating Doors went down a storm with the crowd in Bath last night.
One of our great playwright’s first comedies, it is a unique theatrical experience combining humour with melodramatic climaxes, a poignant look at life’s opportunities as well as an interconnecting hotel door which transports its occupants through three time zones.
As Ackybourn himself admits, the wizardry of the time travel machine is best left unexplained.
"Don’t even ask, I’ve no idea myself," he says.
But the magic of the six characters’ connection with eachother over the course of 40 years is easily attributable to their creator.
Our heroine is Poopay (Laura Doddington), a south London call girl dressed in head-to-toe leather whose services are required by aging businessman Reece Wells (Ben Porter) at a top city hotel in the year 2030.
But the dying man’s intentions are quickly revealed as he wishes his full-blown confession, which details the murder of his two wives and a lifelong trail of deceit and deviance, to be delivered to a lawyer without being stopped by his evil business partner Julian (Ben Jones).
As Poopay is cornered by the vilanious Julian she escapes trhough a cupboard door but is transported 20 years back in time to 2010, to the same hotel where Reece’s second wife Ruella (Liza Goddard) is staying and is soon due to meet her untimely end.
In turn, Ruella finds she too must cross the boundaries of time and go back a further 20 years to warn Reece’s first wife Jessica (Daisy Aitkens) of her forthcoming demise.
What follows is an a whirlwind of time traveling mayhem including several near deaths, plenty of creeping about the cleverly-designed set and a hair-brained attempt to decipher the hows and whys of this brilliantly bizarre plot. My favourite moment came at the end of the first half as Poopay is left alone in the hotel bathroom and as music from Alfred Hitchock’s infamous horror Psycho is played, she declared: "I am not taking a shower".
All the cast deserve individual praise for their undertakings in this purposely confusing tale, including the hotel’s long-suffering security guard Harold (Jamie Kenna) who spans the space of time. But particular mention must go to Laura Doddington and Liza Goddard whose characters’ unlikely meeting and closesness thereafter is made believable by their strong bond on stage and the sense of humanity they each bring to their roles.
Ben Jones is also incredibly frightening, leaving the audience with no guilty conscious laughing at a haphazard attempt at hiding his body.
Whether you understand all of the capers in this comedy or not, it doesn’t really matter. It is a great evening’s entertainment and whilst it won’t leave you debating life’s searching questions it does provide some truth to the saying ‘what goes around comes around’.
Communicating Doors is on at the Theatre Royal, Bath until Saturday, June 4. Call 01225 448844 for tickets.
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