Fast paced and sizzling action at Kenilworth theatre

NEIL Simon’s fast-paced and funny female version of the original play starts with a hilarious game of Trivial Pursuit.

It’s a sizzling Friday night in Olive’s flat (picture an 80’s bad taste party) on the 12th floor of a New York apartment block with ‘the girls’; Mickey the cop (Sian Ellis), stylish Renee, (Zoe Lander), dippy Vera (Tracy Pullen), Mumsy Sylvie (Dawn Morris), and abrasive Olive (the wonderful Esther Dunn), a sports journalist.

Florence (Charlotte Froud), after 14 years of marriage to Sidney, finds herself homeless. Olive is untidy, undomesticated, irresponsible; Florence is a good wife and mother but also high-maintenance, hypochondriac, and a compulsive cleaner. But Florence moves in with Olive and we know a train wreck when we see one. Florence’s overzealous cleaning soon upsets the equilibrium. There’s a lovely line from Olive to Florence: “They throw dirt on you when you’re dead!”

Spanish brothers, Manolo and Jesus Costazuela (Mike Connell and Pete Soley) live upstairs, and man-hungry Olive invites them to dinner. Florence’s domestic goddessing is ruined by Olive’s lateness and the bird she’s cooked – Miranda – is a blackened disaster. After three long weeks, the flat is impeccable but Olive has had enough and out goes Flo once more – guess where? - to the Costazuela brothers upstairs.

Florence turns down the opportunity to talk things through with erstwhile husband Sidney and sets off upstairs with a song in her heart. Her parting words to Olive: “You’ve done me two big favours; taking me in and kicking me out!”

This production is a delight from start to finish. It’s a sizzler.

Jane Howard