Theatre technicians must suffer palpitations when Alan Ayckbourn announces his intention to go messing about on the river. Way Upstream is one of the most soggiest experiences you can have in an auditorium: it demands a 15-minute downpour, authentically drenched actors and a 17ft cabin cruiser bobbing about on stage.
This was the play that infamously flooded the National Theatre - you don't see revivals of it that often. But the author's outstanding new production verifies the fundamental Ayckbourn formula: the sterner the technical challenge, the finer the play he writes.
The narrative traces the navigational and emotional misfortunes of bumptious factory owner Keith, and his meek lieutenant Alistair on an ill-fated boating holiday. When we first see the party arriving tired, late and fractious at their mooring, Keith's wife loudly complains that she can't see how they are meant to stage a successful holiday on such a tiny tub. You can't imagine how they are going to stage a successful play on it either. But if there's one thing Alan Ayckbourn instinctively understands as a dramatist, it is how to work his way out of a tight corner.
In fact the boat turns out to hold metaphorical as well as comedic purpose. The drama occurs at the beginning of the 1980s (and still has to - mobile phones would scupper the plot). As Keith loses control of his craft, we also learn that he is in deadlock with the unions and the boat begins to seem a tiny ship of state, illustrating the rise of Thatcherite economics.
Designer Michael Holt makes a magnificent job of turning the theatre-in-the-round into theatre-around-a-lake; while to their great credit, the cast show absolutely no sign of being upstaged by a dinghy. If you have a penchant for classic Ayckbourn, superlatively performed, this will really float your boat.
· Until November 15. Box office: 01723 370541.
