REVIEW: (This is not a) Happy Room at the Theatre Royal Windsor

Putting the fun into dysfunctionality, not to mention a funeral, this sharply fresh comedy is set at what was meant to be a wedding which then becomes a wake so as not to ‘waste the venue.’

The Hendersons have been reluctantly dragged to a hotel in Blackpool to see their dad get hitched for the third or fourth time. 

First-born daughter Laura (Andrea Valls) is first on the scene, stressed at being late, snapping instructions to her husband Charles (Tom Kanji) about the room and the baby. She’s a human rights lawyer who reads the Daily Mail ‘ironically!’

Brother Simon (Declan Baxter) enters the function room with sunglasses, a cane and a catalogue of imaginary illnesses – he is 35.

Elle, youngest of the three siblings, rocks up in a leather jacket and a whimsical mood, acting out like the film star she happens to be.

Their mother Esther (Amanda Abbington, wonderfully), is Eric’s brittle, witty, triple ex wife in tow with his bemused and confused aunt Agatha (Alison Liney, in her professional stage debut).

They are evidently not a close family but there’s a coherence to their spiky banter, outsider Charles provides a counterpoint by being rather more normal nice.

As Eric and his fiancée fail to appear, the tension builds as the scenes unfold via a deranged rendition of Agadoo, a death announcement and a startling denouement.

Written in a Clapham cafe by Rosie Day (see above) when she was just 25, the play premiered at the Kings Head Theatre in North London and is already gaining traction.

I loved the look of the set, the swag of the soft furnishings and the large low ceiling, something I have never seen on stage before, it added to the boxed-in situation but I think it absorbed some of the sound despite the clear diction of this talented cast.

I enjoyed reading about the cast and was reminded of Buster Merryfield (best known as Albert in Only Fools and Horses) who became a professional actor after retiring as a bank manager.

This play's Aunt Agatha is a splendid match for Uncle Albert, Alison Liney has been acting in amateur productions since the mid-Sixties and makes her professional debut here – she stole every scene. Yes, this added to the fun in the funeral for this happy audience (yes, we were one).

(This is not a) Happy Room was at the Theatre Royal Windsor until Saturday, May 17.