In a loft conversion in Peckham, south London, lecturer Peter (Jamie Glover) and teacher Elizabeth (Sarah Hadland) are getting ready for dinner guests. Offstage, their children sleep; her mother calls with advice on how to cook couscous. Relationships are revealed in the minutiae of behaviours and verbal niceties.
So far, so fast, funny and intriguing. The first guest arrives: childhood friend Carl (Raymond Coulthard), now a trombonist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He admires Elizabeth’s hair (as does every other character on entering): “You’ve done something new.” She replies to him, as to all: “Peter doesn’t like it.” Small tensions initially promise interesting situations in this rather old-fashionedly well-made, crowd-pleasing French comedy by writing team Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière. Although it has been an international hit since it opened in Paris in 2010 (and was made into a film in 2012), adapter/director Jeremy Sams here gives the play its British premiere.
The Alan Ayckbourn-style setup is detonated by Vincent, Elizabeth’s brother and Peter’s best friend. Vincent (Nigel Harman) is flash, brash and wealthy; a reformed ladies’ man, delightedly about to become a father with Anna (Olivia Poulet), who is held up at a fashion-house meeting. What will they call the child? His answer sparks an argument that initiates a chain reaction of antagonisms: opinions and resentments aired; secrets exposed. At first, it seems that, as in Ayckbourn, tightly drawn characterisations will open up wider social attitudes and positions, as the supposedly liberal Peter greets Vincent’s choice with aggressive, obdurate opposition. The moment passes. The focus fixes on personal interactions. Slick, witty dialogue and tag-team precision by a taut cast are entertaining, but the play is ultimately unsatisfying, a bowl of crème Chantilly instead of a meal.
• At Birmingham Rep until 11 February. Box office: 0121 236 4455
