Bordering on self-indulgent (From Gazette Series)

Bordering on self-indulgent

IMPROBABLE Fiction came to Bath last week - on tour from the writer's base, the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough.

I saw this production when it opened in Scarborough, and thoroughly enjoyed an evening of inventive light-hearted storytelling.

As the title suggests, Ayckbourne's 67th play brings to life an unlikely mix of stories peopled by characters that emerge from a struggling writing group.

The setting is a faded country house owned by the likeable chairman of the group Arnold - as he says at one point however, 'niceness has very little correlation to creativity'.

In this production, the fireplace in his sitting room was at the front of the stage so the audience provided the traditional fourth wall of the room.

The Stephen Joseph Theatre is a theatre in the round - this gives the audience a feeling of intimacy and involvement with performances as they surround the actors who perform in the middle. I missed that closeness in the Theatre Royal, Bath.

The production seems to have changed a bit since leaving that space, too.

The actors, all the original cast except one, are possibly being slightly self-indulgent now - a temptation that must be difficult to resist with such an over the top play.

Accents, especially West Country ones, are a bit exaggerated, and the gormless hired help family is embarrassingly awkward.

But one scene retained its power, I thought - daringly, there are minimal words spoken during a long drawn out sequence with coffee being poured out and handed round. The uncomfortable feelings of a group who do not share much common ground, and the shyness of the outsider are palpable.

The outsider, Ilsa, becomes a key character in the improbable fiction and discovers the frailties of the intellectuals.

And there is a hilarious feel-good musical final scene, with a gentle reflection at the end.