"Same Time, Next Year" by Bernard Slade.

Performed by Jakobus Theater in der Fabrik.

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

The second of two plays performed in German by one of the other theatre companies twinned in Germany with the Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

Every year there is a theatrical exchange where the Lace Market theatre travel to Germany to perform a couple of plays, and vice versa. This year is the first time that I have attended any of the German theatre groups' productions. With not being fluent in the language - my German lessons at school were a veeeerrrry long time ago, but there are the odd phrases or words that I recognised. This being the case, it made me pay even more attention to the stage and the actors on the stage. Neither of the plays performed this week I have seen before, another reason to pay more attention than usual, but as I mentioned in my Monday evening's review, you don't have to be fluent in Russian to enjoy Chekhov, or know Italian to enjoy most operas, because the talents withing the actors deliver the story in a more physical way.

"Same Time, Next Year" is a romantic comedy about New Jersey accountant George and Oakland housewife Doris meet at a motel in 1976. They have an affair, and agree to meet once a year, despite the fact both are married to others and have six children between them. We get to see ad hoc meetings from 1976 to 2001.

There are some very comical scene changes, which entail either a maid, and in one case someone who looks like a stoner with his shirt slashed to the waist, smoking a joint. These sections involve the worker tidying up the bed, removing cases and clothing and putting things back to where they should be; with a running joke of a chair being removed from one side of the room to the other, which is immediately moved back to where it was previously. The calendar showing the year is also amended by the motel worker.

There's music by artists like Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Billy Joel plays behind the choreographed room tidying routines, also involving some dancing and/or singing, which I loved as it broke up the dramatic segments.

The play opens with Markus Künstler entering via the auditorium doors, greeting audience members with a brush, as the owner of the establishment where the meetings take place and sets the scene for the audience and gives a potted history of George and Doris's past rendezvous. This is done in English. This leads us up to the start of the rest of the play.

George is played by Christian Brunner, a lovely physical actor who relays the story in his physicality of the character. I just know that if I was fluent, or even semi fluent in German, that I would have loved his, as well as Magdelana's, performance even more than I did because both are such vivid storytellers via the physical comedy side of their acting. I also noted that Christian also had as many full costume changes as Magdelena, something that some Directors omit for the male leads.

Doris is played by Magdelana Maier, and I can echo everything that I have said about Christian here. The pair really bring everything to life, and just wait for the final rendezvous scene; I was not expecting that! Both actors really complement the other and make the relationship very believable through the chemistry they both have. I must say as well that my favourite scene was the second rendezvous in 1989 - that was a bit of a surprise where the dramatic comedy play really kicked in! With Doris the years between the meetings were visually excellent via the fashion choices. Women's fashion always seems to change so much from year to year, and the costume changes depict this time lapse brilliantly.

The Chambermaid who pops in to tidy the room is played by Jule Klessing. Again a brilliantly choreographed comedy routine to Prince's "Kiss" and an opportunity to show off Jule's singing voice to Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are". It's cameos like this and the one for Freddi that really kept the zing going in this production.

The Hotel Page is played by Freddi Schmeider. A contrast to Jule's smart chambermaid outfit with the shirt slashed to the waist and smoking while he slowly does his tidy up of the room. A lovely comedic section with the chair which could only really be done by a man to get the reaction that it did. The Red Hot Chili Pepper's song "Under the Bridge" backed up that chilled out persona perfectly.

Directed by Andreas Rüdenauer, who is a professional Theatre Director. Everything about this production, as well as the previous shows this week at the Lace Market Theatre smacks of professionalism. In this production I really enjoyed the scene change segues, as I mentioned previously in this review. It's not often in British Theatre that the scene changes are as entertaining as the scenes themselves, but here we get a brilliant example of how entertaining they can be.

The set design is wonderful. In the centre of the stage is a double bed with a window at the back of the set which has a lovely 3D effect looking out over the motel grounds. Also in the room is a keyboard, and I was wondering why there's a keyboard in a motel room, but that becomes apparent later on in the play. The chair that traverses the stage at the start and end of each scene, a chest of drawers with a phone atop, which also gets an upgrade later on, and a hatstand. A wonderful set design, and I also liked the cross on the wall which also indicates the passing of time when we get to the second act! Set Designer and Property Manager is Sabrina Gabriel.

The costumes for all four are great, especially the two leads who have several costume changes throughout to show the passing of time in between the meetings.

Sound design and lighting design are both excellent with several well cued sound effects peppered throughout the show. These areas are the responsibility of Niko Meister and Martin Schlegl.

respectively.

The technical crew consist of Luca Renner, Martin Schlegl, Niko Meister, Nicholas Hilger, Jens Rohmann, Leonard Berscheid and Markus Künstler.

Even without knowing the German language, I did know the basic storyline, this quartet of actors provided a lovely physical comedy that you were able to follow most of the story from. And it did give me a chance to recall even more phrases and words from my misty past of my German lessons with Frau Knott, back in my schooldays.

A couple of very enjoyable introductions to German am dram, and not one prompt in either show!

There's two more chances to see this production on Thursday; a 2.30 matinee and a 7.30 evening performance. The production is performed in German for free, but a ticket will be required to assure your seat.

Photography by HERRliche fotografie