Opinions May Differ

Last night I went to the Hampstead Theatre to see Michael Frayn’s comedy Alphabetical Order. The play is set in the library of a local rag and centres around the staff of the paper and their relationships with each other; in particular, with the paper’s librarian, the ever-so-lovely Lucy, played by Imogen Stubbs. We join the story as Lesley (played by Chloe Newsome, or Vicky McDonald from Corrie) joins the paper and attempts to ‘straighten out’ the office by sorting and alphabetising the library’s shambolic contents.

The play introduces characters such as the sufferable enthusiast Geoffrey (Ian Talbot) who waxes lyrical on the qualities of every member of staff and Nora (Penelope Beaumont), the harmless nuisance, who patronises everyone and puts all their backs up. The characters are recognisable and digestible – the smart-arse, the mad-arse, the clown, the stiff and the sweetheart. I enjoyed it because I identified with its flavour. We’ve all worked in a place like this. Their office could easily be summed up by the horrendous mug phrase ‘You Don’t Have To Be Mad To Work Here, But It Helps’ (chortle chortle).

The original production of Alphabetical Order actually opened in March 1975 at the Hampstead Theatre, so it was somewhat of a homecoming as well as being a nostalgic reminder of ‘what comedy once was’. However, I have to admit – not for me. I don’t remember 1975. I wasn’t born.

Which is why I was fascinated by how much the opinions of the performance differed. In fact, immediate reviews were so starkly different it was astonishing. My sister and I (both in our mid twenties) tittered at the silliness, smirked at the romance and swooned at just how wonderful Imogen Stubbs is. By contrast, my mum and dad (both in their mid fifties) sighed at the one-liners, yawned at the dialogue and were on the verge of giving up and going to the pub half way through.

So… why such different critiques? The actors were all fantastic, the direction infallible. Rather than get into an argument about it I asked my mum: why the difference of opinion? According to her, it was because she and my dad had seen it all before. Yes, it was a reminder of ‘what comedy once was’ but that comedy wasn’t necessarily good comedy. It had no bite; it had no ‘dark side.’ To my sister and me it was simply innocuous fun. The characters were familiar, the dialogue was swift-moving and chipper and the plot line was tied up nicely at the end. To our ‘modern minds’ it followed a format which is followed by sitcoms beamed onto every television screen throughout the world every single day.

Perhaps we now expect less of our viewing experiences… Perhaps our generation is dumber than the last…

Hmmm…

All I know is I had a jolly nice evening. And I do love that Imogen Stubbs.


photography by Simon Annand