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Performed on a set made up of the inside of the two houses, The Good Life follows the story of two couples – Barbara and Tom, the play’s leads and their neighbours, Margo and Jerry.
The play begins with Tom’s birthday, where an existential crisis leads him to quit his job at a manufacturer of the plastic toys inside cereal. The play then watches Barbara and Tom, in their kitchen, as they navigate a new life of living off the land.
The star of the show
Tom’s decision is met with shock and horror by his neighbours, particularly Margo, who is obsessed with appearances, and spends much of the play stressing over her performance in a local theatre production, her clothes, or her house renovation. Sarah McLane excels as Margo and is definitely the star of the show. Her melodrama brings a laugh to any situation, she never seems to be too close to caricature but she brings the perfect level of exaggerated response. Her interactions with the other characters on stage always brought a laugh out from the audience. I found myself anticipating the way she would react to the various news on stage. When she came through the doors from the backdoor garden onto the stage, the audience would sometimes laugh just at her reaction.
Two houses
Alan Pott’s stage design was effective, allowing us to watch simultaneous event in both houses. This was particularly funny in the scene where Barbara and Tom smoke weed before attending a dinner party at their neighbours. As we watched both scenes, the dinner party that Margo was so intent on keeping highly sophisticated and then the smoking and silly laughter of the couple next door meant that the build up to the reunion of the two was hilarious. Elsewhere, the creation of a garden, partly visible to the audience, out the back doors of Barbara and Tom’s house was effective, as we watched it grow as their life off the land developed. It also allowed entry on stage from many different areas, some through the house doors at the front of the stage, but other’s through the garden door. This was effective for comedic effect as a new character could arrive pretty much instantly as another left.
Barbara and Tom
Ellie Pullen and Stuart Laidler are sweet and loving as Barbara and Tom, with a good on stage presence, particularly in the scene where they decide to begin their new life. Their hugs and laughter make for heartwarming scenes where they resolve arguments and work out how to live their new life. Even with all its lightheartedness, the play touches on some interesting existential issues, which despite the play’s provenance in the 1970s, still felt real and interesting in 2022. Discussions about work near the play’s beginning were made humorous as Tom acted out the scene of his resignation, complete with funny impressions, but other scenes were also handled with the right tone for a debate about life and what it means to live the good life.
Steve Hewitt’s direction creates a very fun play, full of bright and interesting characters. The scenes from 1970s suburbia, alongside Barbara and Tom’s attempt to escape from it are brought well to a modern audience, with buckets of charm alongside nostalgia. 4/5
