Some of Alan Ayckbourn's early work is so far out that it's right back in again. Time and Time Again is more than 30 years old, but you'd barely be able to guess from the manners, the mores or even the clothes. The kaftan tops and crochet hats are pretty chic at the moment. The only clue to the era comes when the blokes change into vintage soccer gear - though today's vogue for retro football shirts makes even that misleading.
Yet the real reason these people would be recognisable at any place or time is that the play marks Ayckbourn's transition from comedies of contrivance towards comedies of character. If one discounts a lethally jammed lawnmower and an ominously positioned pond, there are practically no sprung traps for farcical purposes. Instead, Ayckbourn stakes his claim to be taken seriously as the Chekhov of the commuter belt.
In place of obvious laughs, Ayckbourn exercises his knack of identifying a uniquely English type of character. Sanctimonious bully Graham, for example, blathers on about his penchant for pulling out a couple of folding chairs and picnicking at the side of the road. Joan, a new introduction to the household, stares at him incredulously: "I'd always wondered who those people were," she says.
The play marks some Ayckbournian firsts: first use of an offstage sporting event, and the first time a character is almost drowned. But most significantly it introduces Leonard, the first of Ayckbourn's improbable lotharios, whose feckless lack of initiative proves destructive.
Giles New excels as Leonard, while John Branwell is biliously good as his pompous nemesis, Graham. There are still one or two farcical set-pieces - the specification of a pond in the design makes it pretty clear that someone is likely to take a ducking - but Graham's comeuppance still causes quite a splash.
· In rep until September 17. Box office: 01723 370541.
