Table Manners - a tumultuous rollercoaster ride of emotions.

"Table Manners" serves as the inaugural piece within a trilogy crafted by Ayckbourn. Each of these plays revolves around the dynamics of a consistent ensemble of six characters, all intimately intertwined by the threads of a shared weekend sojourn at the family's countryside home. In this narrative, Annie, baby of the family, entrusts the care of her unseen, ailing mother to her brother and sister-in-law. Meanwhile, Annie herself seeks solace in a well-deserved weekend getaway—although the true nature of her intentions is later revealed to be a clandestine rendezvous with her brother-in-law, Norman. What unfolds is a tumultuous rollercoaster ride of emotions, an experience uniquely reserved for a family that possesses an uncanny familiarity that teeters on the edge of loathing.

The ensemble of six actors effortlessly embodies the complex tapestry of a dysfunctional family unit.

I walked into this production knowing nothing of the story, and left having laughed my way through it.

I give this play 3.5 lettuce leaves out of 5.

Published 13 August 2023 by The Fourth Wall