London Theatre Direct

★★★★★

“THE BEST FUN TO BE HAD IN THE WEST END TODAY”  The Sunday Telegraph
 
“MOVINGLY PAINFUL AND HONEST” The Sunday Times
 
“SUPERBLY FUNNY” The Times
 
“AYCKBOURN’S BLEAKEST, MOST HILARIOUS PLAY. PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO STOP LAUGHING” The Daily Telegraph

Jeremy Herrin directs David Armand, Elizabeth Berrington, Katherine Parkinson, Steffan Rhodri, Reece Shearsmith and Kara Tointon in the classic comedy of manners and social embarrassment Absent Friends by Alan Ayckbourn.

 

When their dear old friend Colin loses his fiancée, his married friends invite him round to cheer him up over tea and sandwiches. As the tea starts to pour, it's clear that trouble is brewing with a wickedly funny blend of jealousy, infidelity and barely concealed loathing. With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Alan Ayckbourn’s exquisite comedy ABSENT FRIENDS is being heralded by the critics as “the best fun you can have in the West End today” (The Sunday Telegraph). With an outstanding cast of award-winning comedy talents including David Armand (The Armstrong and Miller Show, ‘Torn’ YouTube sensation), Elizabeth Berrington (In Bruges, Waterloo Road, Lapland, The Office), Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd, Season’s Greetings, Bleak Old Shop of Stuff), Steffan Rhodri (Gavin and Stacey), Reece Shearsmith (The League of Gentlemen, Betty Blue Eyes, Psychoville) and Kara Tointon (Pygmalion, EastEnders, Strictly Come Dancing Winner 2010), critically-acclaimed director Jeremy Herrin’s production has audiences laughing out loud as this well-intentioned tea party turns into utter chaos.

 

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39 Steps | A Walk On Part: The Fall Of New Labour | Abigail's Party | Afternoon Tea Cruise | Akram Khan - Desh | Ballet Revolucion | Billy Elliot | Blood Brothers | Cabaret | Celebrity Night At Cafe Red | Chariots of Fire | Chicago | Chicken | Classic Lunch Cruise | Democracy | Derren Brown: Svengali | Drag Divas | Dreamboats and Petticoats | Evening Dinner Cruise | GATZ | Ghost | Hay Fever | Horrible Histories | Jersey Boys | Julius Caesar | Jumpy | Les Miserables | Let It Be | Lion King | London Dungeon | London Eye | Long Day’s Journey Into Night | Madame Tussauds | Mamma Mia! | Mamma Mia! | Matilda The Musical | Matthew Bourne's Play Without Words | Mercury Fur | Mousetrap | Much Ado About Nothing | Naked Boys Singing | Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer LIVE! | Noises Off | One Man, Two Guvnors | Paul Merton Out Of My Head | Phantom of The Opera | Posh | Rambert Dance Company: Mixed Bill | Reduced Shakespeare Company's The Complete World Of Sports(Abridged) | Richard III | Rock Of Ages | Room On The Broom | San Francisco Ballet: Programme A | San Francisco Ballet: Programme B | San Franciso Ballet: Programme C | Shrek The Musical | Singin' In The Rain | Snowman, The | South Downs/The Browning Version | Step 9 (of 12) | Stomp | Sweeney Todd | The Bodyguard | The Duchess of Malfi | The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe | The Mystery Of Edwin Drood | The Sunshine Boys | Thriller Live | Tiger Who Came to Tea | Top Hat | Torch Song Trilogy | Travelling Light | Twelfth Night | Wah! Wah! Girls | Walking With Dinosaurs | War Horse | We Will Rock You | What The Butler Saw | Wicked | Wizard of Oz | Woman In Black | Written On The Heart | Yes, Prime Minister | ZooNation: Some Like It Hip Hop

 

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