No one could accuse Alan Ayckbourn of shirking the big issues in his children's dramas. Yet he surpasses himself here with a seasonal entertainment about low self-esteem, road traffic accidents and cancer - something to depress the whole family.
Tammy is a troubled teenager, undervalued by her parents and overshadowed by the academic and sporting achievements of her handsome older brother. When this scintillating sibling is snuffed out in a motorcycle smash, Tammy rather fortuitously runs into a strange woman in the park who explains that it is possible to wind the clock back.
Tammy nips back 24 hours to avert the catastrophe, but is paid another visit by her mysterious sponsor, now revealed to be a future incarnation of herself, riddled with an incurable disease. The only way to solve this is to go back and let her brother drive into a lorry after all.
To be fair, Ayckbourn does round things off with a redemptive coda: Tammy is seen to collect the Nobel prize, having discovered a cure for cancer. But it's all a bit cursory and scant emotional consolation for watching Ryan Early's very personable golden boy whizz off to his death on either side of the interval.
Laura Doddington does sterling work as the traumatised Tammy, and creates a touching rapport with Susan Twist's cancer-stricken elder version. But by this point, I saw something I never thought to see at an Ayckbourn family show: tots squirming in their seats, less than entranced. In fact, the biggest squeals of admiration were drawn each time the fated motorcycle appeared, which can't have been the point at all.
· Until January 8. Box office: 01723 370541.
