Ayckbourn’s ‘Things We Do For Love’ in Delaware

The prolific British playwright — he’s written 80 full-length plays — is sometimes called the English Neil Simon, but that's an unfair comparison. Both are prolific and write comedy, but whereas Simon’s plays are punchline-driven, Ayckbourn's works take an absurdist slant that’s nevertheless rooted in real life. They also pose theatrical challenges that probably scare off some producers. Fortunately, the Resident Ensemble Players possess both the facilities and the will to stage this quirky love story.

The last Ayckbourn play produced professionally in Greater Philadelphia was Intimate Exchanges by 1812 Productions in the 2014 FringeArts Festival. In that one, Ayckbourn allows the audience to decide where the story goes, requiring the play's two actors to master a dizzying variety of options. His other works include The Norman Conquests (three interlocking plays, each in a different area of one house), Bedroom Farce (requiring three bedrooms on stage), and House & Garden (which needs two adjacent theater spaces).

More than a gimmick

In Things We Do For Love (1997), Ayckbourn insists that we see not only a small London flat but also the floor of the flat above and the ceiling of the one below. Scott Bradley's scenic design accomplishes this feat neatly, revealing about 18 inches of each. Ayckbourn, smartly directed by Sanford Robbins and played by an energetic cast, does the rest, providing plenty of motivated action to see from the knees down in one flat and near the ceiling of the other.

Ayckbourn raises this device above the gimmick level with a very clever story involving only four characters. Kathleen Pirkl Tague plays Barbara, who lends her upstairs flat to school chum Nikki (Elizabeth Heflin) and her beau Hamish (Mic Matarrese) for a few days, preparing it with the help of downstairs tenant Gilbert (Lee E. Ernst).

Barbara has little experience with men, and resists Gilbert's desperate overtures. Hamish is divorcing his wife for Nikki, and they're in the early passionate stage of their relationship. Barbara at first distrusts Hamish, but the story accelerates when they realize a mutual attraction.

Illusion of privacy

This Chekhovian theme (yes, Ayckbourn’s work is closer to Chekhov than to Simon) concerns the thinness of artificial barriers. We seek refuge behind walls, doors, and floors that really separate us only by a few inches; privacy is a necessary belief, belied by our flimsy reality. While Barbara and Hamish make frantic love in the flat above (hilariously staged physical comedy), Nikki sits alone, unaware, just a few feet below. While Barbara complains about Gilbert's unwelcome advances, she's directly above him while he paints her nude portrait on his ceiling. It's brilliant comedy, but deeper truths emerge through the laughs.

Lindsay Jones's rock score and the lighting by Matt Richards keep the action moving through many scene changes, and Rachel Laritz's costumes define the characters well. And, yes, the title's earworm — 10CC's big 1976 hit — finally plays during the curtain call, capping a very enjoyable and provocative evening.