It is wartime Britain. Stephen and his friend and neighbour Keith Hayward have a summer to fill. Excitement and the stakes rise when Keith announces that his mother is a German spy. They decide to watch her every move.
Michael Frayn's novel of adult secrets and childhood mysteries is lush with the remembrance of things past. Any stage adaptation requires the theatre to be thick with the fragrance of privet hedges as the elderly Stefan sets off on a journey into the past and suburban Surrey in search of his boyhood self, Stephen. However, Theatre Alibi's attempt does not quite make the nostrils flare.
It is a quietly entertaining evening, although the first half moves slower than a snail over a well-manicured lawn. The design is ingenious but too busy, with corrugated iron rather than hedges. Only Mr Hayward's sharpening of his garden shears and whistling offer the understated menace of quiet cul-de-sacs, where hidden emotional bombs could be detonated at any time.
Theatre Alibi have a reputation as terrific storytellers and it is the narrative that carries them through here, with neat touches such as the live cello and accordion accompaniment. The show is at its best when at its quietest: Stefan peering puzzled at his younger self as if faced with a complete stranger.
The piece feels as if it needs a smaller, more intimate staging to show both Frayn's novel and the company to best advantage. But there are some fine performances here, most notably from Benjamin Warren as Stephen and John-Paul Macleod as Keith, a boy who will grow up to be just like his father.
· Until Saturday. Box office: 01865 305305. Then touring.
