Absolutely Frank

Published Friday 30 May 2008 at 16:20 by Mary Redman

Tim Firth’s former one-act play, commissioned by Alan Ayckbourn, gets its full-length London premiere in Hornchurch.

Fussy, garrulous Frank from Batley, a head of installation sign erector of the old school, is showing hoodie Alan his trade. Frank is not a man for whom one word suffices. Many are cherished, polished, held up to the light for admiration.

Frank’s a closet romantic - acting out his sub-sub Russian spy-style writing and believing that belt and braces gets you through life.

Alan, umbilically attached to his MP3, is a shrugger, a joker and a definite slacker. Clearly not sharing Frank’s views. Left to his own devices, he’s a rocker, an artist and a rebel.

Working 60-foot up on an office building, getting on together,  challenges both men into revealing previously hidden knowledge of themselves.

Australian drama school/television-trained Rowan Schlosberg (who plays Alan) makes his UK stage debut, stronger as the hoodie than as office apparatchik. Sharing his long acting experience is Barry McCarthy (who plays Frank), whose professional debut was at the Queen’s in 1970. Directed by Matthew Lloyd, they’re a good team. A special mention for excellence to Rodney Ford’s revolving exterior/interior set and Steve Mayo’s urban soundtrack.

Firth’s play is gently comic, backed by accurate observation of the foibles and unsuspected depths of human nature, faced with irony-laden change. It’s also a technical lesson in how to install signs while dealing with loss.