“Seasons Greetings” by Alan Ayckbourn
Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

The follow up to Ayckbourn’s “Absurd Person Singular” in regards to festive plays, and you can see just why this is a favourite for this time of year, performed on a regular basis up and down the country by both local theatre and professional groups.

It’s Christmas Eve at the Bunker household and Belinda and Neville are hosting. Neville slightly distracted by his various gadgets and Belinda tending the tree and being the perfect hostess. Bernard, a doctor, apparently not a very good one, Harvey, the Uncle is in front of the TV, watching some violence, and Neville and Eddie are engrossed in constructing remote control Christmas Tree lights. Rachel, Belinda’s sister is awaiting Clive, a writer who is in a non-starter of a relationship with Rachel. When Clive turns up, he seems to have eyes for someone else in the Bunker family.

Throw into the mix a heavily pregnant Pattie and her selfish and quite lazy husband, Eddie and Bernard's lush of a wife, Phyllis.

Act One sets the scene, and introduces all of the characters in the play, and gets you ready for an explosive, but very funny Act Two.

There are several wonderfully funny highlights within Act Two, which I won’t spoil but involve a brilliantly entertaining puppet show, created and performed by Bernard, a mechanical toy and the remote control Christmas Tree lights.

While being one of Ayckbourn’s funniest plays, he also highlights the sadness wallowing under the surface of suburbia and the pressure that some people are put under at Christmas to live up to what others expect of them.

Paul Spruce (Neville), Arwen Makin (Belinda), Dawn Gutteridge (Phyllis), Stephen Herring (Harvey), Matthew Clapp (Bernard), Jemma-Dawn Froggitt (Rachel), James Whitby (Eddie), Carrie Gaunt, who makes her Lace Market Theatre debut here (Pattie) and Steve Mitchell (Clive) are perfectly cast and the comedy flows naturally from them all.

You will find yourself recognising situations and traits in these characters, either in yourself or in people you know, and this is an additional bit of fun on top of this beautifully crafted comedy.

Directed by Peter Konowalik, and this is his Lace Market Theatre Directorial debut. Not only is his choice of cast absolutely spot on, but it's the little things that you notice that make this play such a joy for people like me to watch. The 1980's toys, annual and Radio Times from the period all adhered to

The brilliant set is designed by Emma Pegg, and again the little things in this set are so well sourced. It's also Emma who made the incredible puppets that Bernard uses in his puppet show. It is not just a puppet show though because it has scenery, props as well as a working curtain for the scene changes.

Lighting is by David Billen and he creates that "midnight feel",as well as the various time periods throughout the play, making us feel as if we were in the early hours of the morning or late evening over the few days the play covers.

Sound by Simon Carter, not only gets us feeling festive with a nice jazzy Christmas soundtrack, but also with the well placed and timed effects.

There are so many props in this production, as mentioned previously, which I am sure gave Kate Sassi, at times, a headache to source everything we saw on stage.

As well as being a brilliantly funny play, acknowledged with waves of laughter by the audience, it's also nice to see a festive offering that shows the real side of Christmas; let's face it, it can be a stress fest, and that is where much of our own Christmas comedy comes from, maybe in hindsight. But isn't it delicious fun to see this occurring in a household that we are on the outside looking in?

Like most of the productions that the Lace Market Theatre have put on this season, this one is completely sold out, so the only chance you have of getting to see this festive filled fun farce is to check for any cancellations at the Box Office, and have your name added to the cancellations list.

A wonderful closure to a successful year at the Lace Market Theatre, and I know that next year is also brimming with some excellent productions.

“Seasons Greetings” is at the Nottingham Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 14 December.