Uncle Len is on his deathbed, surrounded by Ken, Dooren, Maureen and Barry. East End grudges and West Ham football anthems hang in the air above the deceased as a family comes together for the passing of a loved one. And to seek out and squabble over the contents of his will.
British comedy loves social stereotyping, and one would be forgiven for expecting David Eldridge’s In Basildon to be another caricature of Essex brawl and banter. This is anything but.
What you can bank on is slick chatter, some corking one-liners, high-octane exchanges that threaten to kick off (what we really came for!), set between some mightily down to earth occurrences like old Ken (Peter Wight) reminiscing about the past and his parents’ exodus from the “slums” of Walthamstow, Maureen (Ruth Sheen) and Dooren (Linda Bassett) full of pride as they recall their brother Len’s (Phil Cornwell) hard working days at the Ford plant in Dagenham, and Barry (Lee Ross) and Jackie’s (the glorious and feisty Debbie Chazen) concerns about getting pregnant and being able to afford a place of their own.
Dominic Cooke has staged the play so that we feel like a fly on the living room wall. The layout of the Royal Court’s auditorium – the audience facing each other with the stage in between or below– means that what each half of the crowd sees is quite different. The added mystery of what we are potentially not seeing has us desperate to catch every word and movement.
The action is viewed from angles and perspectives very removed from what we are used to at the theatre. It creates an intimate and almost voyeuristic feeling, turning us into eavesdroppers at this very private occasion. Yet more real are the mundane tasks carried out with no conversation – only the sounds of crisps being munched or the deceased Len being laid out.
Middle class social and political comfort zones were poked and prodded when Len’s niece Shelley (Jade Williams) comes home with her very, very middle class boyfriend, Tom (Max Bennett).
We all know a Tom – racked with “liberal guilt” and ashamed of his private school upbringing and Investment Banker father. Tom’s patronising treatment of the working class, at first thought of as sweet by the family, then threatens to sour any good first impression they had of him.
Max Bennett plays the guilt-ridden writer/teacher with a great balance of stiff-upper-lip awkwardness and leftist passion and his thoroughbred features lend perfectly to the image of a man who, according to Pam (Wendy Nottingham), looks as if he hasn’t done a hard day’s work in his life.
The actors play their part with complete immersion and each deserves individual praise. The family drama is made so natural from the incredible invisible family bond they manage as a cast. It is there implicitly. And it is felt even more so in the moments when nothing is being said or done. What comes out strongest is the pride and integrity this household from Essex has, despite the occasional profanity, sporadic C-word and odd cat-fight. In Basildon is relaxing and engrossing, like curling up on the sofa in front of your favourite soap… only much better.
