Review: Intimate Exchanges at ACT Theatre
Initimate Exchanges is written by well known English playwright, Alan Ayckbourn and directed by Kurt Beattie.
This contemporary play deals with a couple who have been unhappily married and it appears they have been for some time. Two actors, Seattle Marianne Owen and R. Hamilton Wright play six characters whose actions move the play forward. The interesting point of this play is that their is a possibility of four different endings. So depending on which night you attend and what action takes place before the intermission. It is a tour de force comedy with some tragic aspects about decisions people make and the outcome.
Both actors are strong and convincing within their many roles. While there was lots of laughs from the audience, I felt a lot of sadness for how Celia and Toby have limited their lives and when things begin to fall a part, little choice is open to them. The play gives us some insight into how class still plays a role in England today. One character, Lionel, is working so hard to move beyond his social status that he boasts that he is a “master baker” which sounds like something completely different.
See the play. It’s enjoyable and some folks are seeing it more than once to view the the different endings.
Intimate Exchanges plays through September 14, 2008, except Mondays, at the ACT Theatre in Seattle.
– Ethel W.
