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The Last Chair Reviews

What’s On Stage   5 Stars!!!!!

Review by Malcolm Wallace

Manchester’s 24:7 Theatre Festival continues to present a diverse range of short plays celebrating new writing. As with all festivals it has its highs and lows. However, nestled into the programme is The Last Chair, an utter gem brilliantly written and directed by Ian Townsend.

A man sits on a chair and contentedly observes his surroundings. Invading his quietness is a woman who wants to sit down.  It’s soon seems that this one chair is the only chair left in the world. Two people and one chair. Just as it seems a resolution is reachable a huge spanner is thrown into the works putting the problem back to square one.

It’s an unashamedly absurd but very clever piece of silliness based around the simplest of premises and this is why it succeeds, as it doesn’t try to be anything more than what it is.

All three performers are uniformly excellent. Karl Lucas as the Man has an extremely animated face and some of his expressions speak volumes. Hayley Fairclough is superb at manipulating her voice to deliver her lines in the funniest way possible and Stephen King plays the third invader of the space with assurance and warmth.  All three are talented comedic actors and clearly relish the excellent script they are working with.
 
There is no set to speak of, other than two chairs and it’s a credit to all involved that such a simple piece of theatre should prove so utterly captivating. The Last Chair is a sheer joy to watch and totally unmissable!

British Theatre Guide
Review by David Chadderton (2009)

Ian Townsend's absurdist comedy, which seems to hark back to the great N F Simpson in style, is based on the premise that there is only one chair left in the world, as all of the others are occupied and no more will ever be made.

It opens with 'Man' sitting quietly on a chair for quite some time, before 'Woman' enters saying she has been looking for days for a chair as she would like a sit down. They dance around with words and repetition, with 'Man' offering 'Woman' his chair and her not sure whether or how she should sit on it. The problem seems to be solved when Tom, a chair maker, arrives with another chair so that they can both sit down – but what happens if Tom wants to sit down too?

This unreal situation is matched by unreal performances that are sustained superbly by the three performers – Karl Lucas as 'Man', Hayley Fairclough as 'Woman' and Stephen King as Tom – without becoming annoying as they could so easily do. The slick, honed dialogue is matched by some slick, well-paced direction from the author with only a few bits of comic business that don't really come off.

The problem is that this is really an extended sketch and the premise is rather too slight to stretch to 50 minutes, but it is fun, entertaining and well-performed.

Manchester Evening News  3 Stars!!!

Review by Kevin Bourke

WRITTEN and directed by Ian Townsend, making his third contribution to 24:7 since 2004, this absurdist comedy takes as its premise the outlandish notion that there are no more chairs in the world, nor are they being made.

So what will happen when a well-dressed man (Karl Lucas) and equally well-heeled woman (Hayley Fairclough) find themselves verbally jousting over what seems to be the last chair?

Shouldn’t the arrival of artisan Tom (Stephen King) with another chair help them out of their plight?

Despite seeming slight compared to some 24:7 offerings, this is, nonetheless, entertaining enough and certainly well-delivered.

Shouldn’t it have been a promenade production, though?

UK Theatre Network

Review by Caroline May

Ian Townsend burst on to the 24:7 scene last year with the filthy farce Granny Must Die, but in 2009 he’s moved into the sophisticated arena of absurdist comedy with The Last Chair.  A lone chair is centre-stage.  On it is a man in a suit - just sitting.  Along comes a woman in an evening dress who tries to prise him from his chair - she’s had a hard day, fancies a sit down, and as it happens there are no more chairs in the whole world. 

This simple premise is the opportunity for a writer with a keen ear for the northern vernacular and a real love of language to showcase his skills, as well as creating a comedy double-act for Karl Lucas and Hayley Fairclough.   The cross-talk, patter and slapstick recall the golden era of comics like Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson and Morecambe and Wise.

And finally, to address the balance…

The Public Reviews.
Review by John (Bad mood) Roberts

I want to open the review with a quote from the play itself “there were no seats left for this mediocre play, with no big names and very little talent.” Unfortunately for this show thats the only thing that made me laugh as it summed up my whole experience of this production.

I am a huge fan of surrealist comedy, Ionesco has a permanent place in my heart as a master of comic genius, and if you are going to produce a piece of surreal comedy then you need to submerge yourself in as much research in the area as possible but Ian Townsends writing falls miserable short of the mark.

Taking the idea of the last chair in the world and two people, who should have the chair? Should they share it? Take turns? How long should they each take? Where should the chair be placed in the unknown place? To be honest I really didn’t care as the whole premise has the feel of a very bad thirty second sketch on a bad television comedy that’s been stretched out further than Rick Waller’s Waist Line.

Ian Townsend has also directed the piece and one must raise a few questions the first, why play your leads as upper class, what relation does this have to the piece other than to annoy the living hell out of your audience? Karl Lucas & Hayley Fairclough seemed to be enjoying every moment of their high pitched squeals of delight throughout, but their performances left little more than the feeling I was watching a very bad Am-Dram from Alderly Edge.

I guess the most absurd thing about Townsend’s production is trying to understand why this play actually got picked for the 24:7 Festival.

Thanks, John. Good to see you have an open mind. Good spelling and grammar too.