A Brief History of Women

B

After missing the 2017 season of Brits Off Broadway, Alan Ayckbourn, happily, is back at 59E59 Theater with his 81st play. I could quibble about the title— the play is neither brief nor a history of women. “Sixty Years at Kirkbridge Manor” would have been a better fit, because all four segments of the play take place in that location between 1925 and 1985. Seeing the wonderful set by Kevin Jenkins provides a treat even before the play begins. Jenkins, who is also responsible for the great costumes, has cleverly managed to squeeze a paneled study, a marble-floored entrance hall, a terrace and a corner of a ballroom onto the Theater A stage. The set is subtly altered as the manor house is converted, first to a girls’ school, then to a community arts center and, finally, to a boutique hotel. The set change between the final two segments was so clever that it drew a round of applause. The central character is the calm, reactive Anthony Spates (Anthony Eden), first seen as a 17-year-old farm boy working part time as footman at the manor house, later as a 37-year-old teacher at the girls’ school, then as the 57-year-old administrator of the arts center and, lastly, as the 77-year-old retired hotel manager filling in during his successor’s vacation. One of the pleasures of an evening of Ayckbourn is relishing his superb actors in the multiple roles they are called upon to play. Five of the six — Eden, Frances Marshall, Laura Matthews, Laurence Pears and Louise Shuttleworth —were new to me. The sixth, Russell Dixon, is a welcome returnee who can effortlessly steal any scene he is in. The physical abuse of women described in the first part could well have been ripped from today’s headlines. The attitude toward women expressed by the lord of the manor is antediluvian. One can argue about how much progress has been made over 60 years. As he often does, Ayckbourn injects an interesting theatrical restriction into the proceedings: we can only hear the characters in the room that Spates is in. Others may be chatting away in another room, but we do not hear them. While the roles are juicy and the dialogue entertains, there are a few dry spots along the way. You may find the ending predictable, but you will likely still be moved by it. Ayckbourn is one of the few playwrights who does well directing his own work. Even when he is not at the top of his form, he is worth seeing. I look forward to play #82. Running time: 2 1/2 hours including intermission.