In 1967, when Relatively Speaking first played to audiences, it opened to a roar of approval from the critics, and the first offering of now acclaimed playwright Alan Ayckbourn set him on the path to success. Now, 46 years later, the comedy is back in the West End at the Wyndham’s theatre, offering a night of hilarity that is still relevant and completely charming today.

The story follows a young couple, Greg and Ginny, who have seemingly just spent the night together (much less of a big deal now that at the time of its premiere) and are in the midst of a relationship which is splintering around the edges. Seemingly oblivious to the bunches of flowers that dot the small ’60s-styled bedsit (with which he mirthfully covers his modesty in one early scene) Greg proposes and is then dismayed when he is told that he cannot visit Ginny’s parents with her that afternoon. Greg decides to visit them anyway, and chaos ensues as he arrives to meet Sheila (Felicity Kendal) who is unhappily married to Philip (Jonathan Coy), who also happens to be Ginny’s secret lover.

It’s a incredibly British farce of crossed wires and mistaken identities, and is played out within Peter McKintosh’s swinging 60s set of Ginny’s bedsit and the patio of an immaculately kept garden. Lindsay Posner’s direction of the quartet brings out the comedy to its fullest – Kendal’s timing in particular is superb – and Coy’s portrait of bullishly patronising Philip makes the duo a force to be reckoned with. Kara Tointon, modelling a Mary Quant-style wig, has the right mix of maturity and innocence for Ginny and Max Bennett’s turn as Greg gives us a perplexed, naive partner to balance it out. Michael Bruce (current resident composer at the Donmar) provides us with some apt little jingles to help the evening along, and Howard Harrison’s minimal lighting expertly illuminates the manicured patio where the majority of the action takes place.

It is a wholesome revival, but the genius of the show lies in the writing. Ayckbourn is still as relevant now as he was in the ’60s, and has a real knack for bringing out the comedy in its darkest situations. In the second act particularly, I found myself laughing so regularly, that it’s not until the end of the show that you really see the unfortunate misogyny in Philip’s character. Relatively Speaking provides you with an evening of great hilarity and sharp comic timing all wrapped up in the psychedelic 60s era.

Relatively Speaking is playing The Wyndham’s Theatre until 31^st August 2013. For more information and tickets, see the Delfont Mackintosh website.

Riverside Studios is always a hub of interesting activities. Among the many other shows and films it currently has on offer is Joe Evans’s Hutch, a play charting a period in the life of 1920s cabaret star Leslie Hutchinson. Hutchinson was a lauded pianist and singer of the era who was as well known for his bisexuality and liasons as for his musical prowess. Being black kept him, even at the height of his fame, assigned to the tradesman’s entrances (the back door) of the venues he filled.

In the the ’20s he teamed up with Cole Porter, becoming his lover; in the ’30s he cracked America, but an affair with Edwina Mountbatten, wife of the Queen’s cousin Lord Louis, was one too many. A tabloid furore ensued, with Mounbatten going to court. Hutch’s career, and life, fizzled out.

If you know nothing about Hutchinson, Evans’ play requires pre-reading. The language is very subtle, with quiet references made to “living lies”, and such like; no overt references to bisexuality are ever made, which can result in much head scratching when things kick off. I went in completely new to the story, so when Hutch’s affairs with men and married women began to unroll, I was more than a little confused.

The cast kept whipping out a variety of talents; acting, singing, dancing and piano playing, which was impressive. However the love triangle of Sid Phoenix, Sheldon Green and Imogan Daines as Porter, Hutch and Mountbatten, had little chemistry. I did wonder if they perhaps had been cast on their musical/singing abilities first and their acting second, which makes sense for the production, but leaves the dialogue scenes a little flat and emotionless.

Hutch is not a musical, but there are a lot of musical numbers; the stage itself is set out like a cabaret venue: piano, stage, several round intimate tables. While I enjoy the songs of Porter (‘Let’s Do It’, ‘Let’s Fall In Love’, ‘Anything Goes’), because the songs were neither performed as they would be in a musical, nor quite as they would be in a cabaret, once the novelty wore off the constant breaking into song began to drag, and made the play feel longer than it was.

Such a complex history as Hutch’s is difficult to cram into 90 minutes. The company evoked the era excellently in their costumes, music and manner of speaking, and the songs were perfomed wonderfully. On the whole though it felt like important information was either rushed through or left unclear. The actors were musically skilled but the emotional extremes of love and bitterness, confusion and hate the characters go through never really came across. A great deal of care and effort has clearly gone into the work, but it lacks heart.

Hutch runs at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith until 8 June. For more information and tickets, see the Riverside Studios website.

On entering the Centrespace Gallery, you are ushered into a small and intimate tent with what feels like old friends for an evening of reminiscence and tales. This clever use of space makes you feel completely relaxed and comfortable as the girls welcome you in with their friendly smiles and greetings. This closed space allows Ella and Nicki to really connect with their audience as they make you to feel as though they are speaking directly to you, by making eye contact with everyone in the audience at some point. The girls cleverly included the audience by passing around photos and cutting a peanut butter-flavoured ‘Hiker’s bar’ for us all to taste, making everyone feel connected and completely intrigued.

They cleverly used everyday items as props, such as a large map of the parts of America they visited, string, desk lamps and many more household items which all fit perfectly into the space and the theme of the show. Their videos and phone recordings helped you to understand their experience and make you feel as if, in a way, you were experiencing their trip with them. The personal videos and photos also helped to make the show feel very intimate as it was clear that the girls were sharing their very special time with the audience. The use of miniature, hand-made props to set scenes, such as paper houses, trucks and gas stations, helped to fully build an image in the audiences’ minds of rural America, again helping us to feel as if we were experiencing it with them. All of the props can be seen as basic, but they were completely effective in making the show so successful and understandable, as they encouraged the audience to visualise what they were describing for us in a much broader scale.

The use of gentle comedy, such as replicating the American presenter Bobo’s accent, helped to keep the show quite light-hearted in the dark environment, and helped to keep you engaged and focused throughout the evening.

By ending the show with time for the audience to ask questions about their time hunting for Big Foot, the girls brought the show to a peaceful and perfect end as they cleared up any overhanging enigmas and resolved any confusion or misunderstanding. The questions also reminded you that this was a true life experience, all the stories and videos were real, which helped to make the show feel more exciting and powerful.

This show could be seen as really basic, but it was most definitely an effective and successful piece of art.

Wild Thing I Love You  is playing at the Centrespace Gallery until 23 May as part of Mayfest in Bristol. For more information and tickets visit the Mayfest website.

I saw NoFit State Circus once before, at the London International Mime Festival in the South Bank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. An auditorium of this style does no justice to the magic that can be worked in a Big Top. This time round, as before, I found myself yearning for story to connect the spectacular circus acts. Bianco, however, has shown me how powerful an art form circus can be, full of visual splendour and spectacularly skilled performances.

Bianco’s audience enters the Big Top stationed on Hove Lawns into a lively atmosphere. Performers clamber over a scaffold made of an interconnected aerial rig – which the show reveals to be a genius piece of design – covered in gauze. We encircle the excitedly shouting performers and, as the lights go down, the gauze drops and we are invited into this extraordinary circus show.

A live band accompanies Bianco adding to the electric atmosphere that fills the space with every act of aerial, juggling, tightrope (in heels!) … I could go on and on. This show is highly charged, immensely skilled and powerful but it’s just too long. At two hours and 20 minutes, including an interval, I found myself leaving with neck ache and a significant lapse in concentration. There’s only so much ‘ooh-ing’ and ‘aah-ing’ a person can do, a limit to the level of unconnected, equally spectacular and skilled circus acts you can take before your focus starts to wane.

I headed into the interval after a stunningly beautiful and emotionally charged straps performance feeling elated and inspired. This act demonstrated how circus can take its audience somewhere, tell a story and really make them feel. To stick with having no over-arching story the show may have benefitted from ending here, with a tribute to the beauty and power of circus art. However, I think to add some sense of narrative would elevate a show such as this to something phenomenal.

To its credit, NoFit State does toy with an element of story. Narration at the opening mentions the setting as a travellers’ camp at night, and something about this being the night the elephant came. At least I think that’s what they said. Such narration happens sporadically throughout and performers occasionally speak during acts, they are wearing microphones but it’s challenging to make out anything that is said.

Despite its lack of coherent story, however, Bianco is spectacular in every regard. Go and you will find yourself marvelling at the skill and sheer strength of every act, whilst enjoying the immersive environment created by the fantastically designed and engineered set, sound and lighting. This is a well put together, if lengthy, show and a great night out – I just think with more presence allowed to story it could be something even more dazzling. This is a Brighton Fringe experience not to be missed.

Bianco is playing Brighton Fringe until 1 June. For more information and tickets, see the Brighton Fringe website. Photography by David Levene.