Oldham Coliseum Theatre presents a new production of Alan Ayckbourn’s first West End hit, Relatively Speaking.
The production is directed by Robin Herford, who performed in the 1977 revival of the same play directed by Ayckbourn at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.
The comedy of misunderstanding involves two couples, one young and co-habiting and one older, married and fraught. When inexperienced Greg finds a pair of strange slippers under the bed, he decides to follow girlfriend Ginny, thinking she is visiting her parents. What follows is a combination of twists, turns and confusion, plus a smattering of infidelity.
In 1969, it became the first of Ayckbourn’s plays to be adapted for television.
Best known as director of the stage adaptation of The Woman in Black, Herford spent much of his early career working with Ayckbourn in Scarborough and has appeared in the original production of more Ayckbourn plays than any other actor.
The Coliseum’s Relatively Speaking features Crispin Letts, who has appeared in hit feature films Murder on the Orient Express and Skyfall; Jo Mousley, who performed in the Coliseum’s Manchester Theatre Award-winning regional première of The Father in summer 2017; Lianne Harvey, who won multiple awards in 2017 for her role in feature film Bikini Blue; and Matt Connor, who was last in Oldham for the Coliseum’s autumn 2017 productions of Oh What A Lovely War and Up ‘n’ Under and has performed in The Woman in Black on the West End and on national tour.
Relatively Speaking runs from April 20 to May 5.