YASMINA Reza’s play, as translated by Christopher Hampton, comes across as an exquisite comedy of embarrassment and conflicting but equally suburban values, as two sets of parents, Michel and Veronique (John Erskine and Ellie Pilborough) and Annette and Alain (Joanna Mills and Sam Dobson) are brought together to discuss a violent incident between their ten-yearold boys.
Like the actresses, company director Anna Saracka, producer Joe Buckingham and assistants Emma Fraser and Matt Roberts are all debuting, with Hamish Patel, the other director, a no doubt watchful and meticulous “senior”.
Whatever – this is a sharp, entertaining production, down to complex, mobile phonedominated sound effects.
One does get a sense of a petty dispute becoming something more malign, and some more hammy types might welcome an accelerated and even closer approach to the Grand Guignol.
Purely as a comedy of manners, it works splendidly, undoubtedly a crowd-pleasing bullseye.
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