Way Upstream @ Chichester Festival Theatre

There are a few signs that tell us here at Sitting in the Cheap Seats that spring has finally sprung. The trees and flowers begin to bloom, there are occasionally consecutive days without any rain and the surest sign of all… We find ourselves venturing to Chichester Festival Theatre for the launch of their summer season.

This year their initial offering is the seemingly easy-going Alan Ayckbourn classic Way Upstream. Ostensibly the story of two couples taking a boating holiday, this is in reality an often dark look at the nature of relationships and the disintegration of superficial appearances when people are forced into close proximity with each other.

The true star here is the spectacular set, featuring a 27 foot boat on a body of water covering the whole stage area! When the play was staged at the National way back in 1982 the set famously sprung a leak… this time not a drop is spilled unintentionally and the wooded banks (with real trees courtesy of the Goodwood estate) look suitably precarious.

Boorish factory boss Keith (a sneering Peter Forbes) is the bombastic self-elected captain of the ship, pummelling the rest of the “crew” with nautical facts when he isn’t preoccupied with bellowing arguments with his sex-starved wife June played by Sarah Parish. They’re joined by Jill Halfpenny and Jason Hughes as timid pair Emma and Alistair.

Things are pretty predictable at first, the two couples differences irritate each other and highlight the flaws in both relationships. All is thrown to pot when they pick up Vince, a chilled-out river dweller who swiftly turns from friendly hitch-hiker to sinister boat-jacker. It’s a wonderful performance by Jason Durr who comes across like a sinister Pierce Brosnan. He’s ably abetted by the sultry Fleur (Emily Lang).

Director Nadia Fall coaxes some superb performances out of the cast, but I can’t help feeling they are underserved by a script that veers between tones without subtlety and that contains an over-long and at times baffling second act. Nonetheless this is an enjoyable enough evening and the set alone is worth the price of admission!