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The plot is simple and sordid enough. Working-class but university-educated Jimmy is married to middle-class Alison, and the two of them are sharing a shabby flat with Jimmy’s best buddy, Cliff, who provides companionship for Jimmy and affection for Alison. She returns his playful flirtations, since Jimmy’s communication these days consists of an unending stream of abuse and complaints directed at her, her family, their economic situation, and the world in general. Alison’s glamorous chum Helena comes to visit and convinces the distraught wife to go home to her parents, after which Helena all but rapes the bewildered Jimmy. After a few months, however, she decides she must leave, and Cliff also proposes to move on. At this point Alison, her genteel facade shattered by a recent miscarriage, returns to Jimmy, who has learned compassion. They vow to try again to make their marriage work.
There are several reasons this scenario and this Bailiwick Repertory production may strike modern American audiences as quaint, puzzling, or downright repugnant:
On the other hand, there are reasons to see Bailiwick’s production:
