Just Between Ourselves by Alan Ayckbourn.

In today’s society, couples often don’t stay together if one or the other is unhappy. Just Between Ourselves reflects the generation of couples in the 1970’s where getting married invariably meant for life regardless of what happened within the marital home.

Alan Ayckbourn writes with understanding and reflection about the tensions of family life and the destructive undercurrents that bubble away until someone finally snaps.

Dennis (Tom Richardson) spends the majority of his home life hidden away in his garage surrounded by lots of half-finished jobs which he “will get round to”. He is trying to sell his wife’s car, Vera (Holly Smith). Although exactly how is another story and one of his “jobs” is to mend the garage door which no longer opens.

With his ageing Mother, Marjorie (Connie Walker) of “66” living with him you quickly understand why he has retreated out there. The idea of anyone being old and past at 66 nowadays in the main is unthinkable, especially with the retirement age set at 66.

Neil played by Joseph Clowser has come to view the car for his wife Pam (Helen Phillips) as a birthday present. He cannot drive but she can and he wants her to have some independence.

Director Michael Cabot along with set designer Elizabeth Wright create the outside scenes without moving the staging around by placing flowers outside along the front of the stage. There’s also an amount of suspension of disbelief from the audience too, it works and breaks up the storyline smoothly.

Just Between Ourselves is an insight and nostalgic peak into the past. Although it appeared to be a “simpler life” the damage and problems with mental health still existed they were just not properly understood as we see when Vera suffers from a mental breakdown at the end. It’s not a happy-ever-after play but it offers food for thought when we hanker after the “good old days”.