On The Piste – Sutton Arts Theatre
Sutton Arts Theatre
Thursday 1st May 2025
By : Nigel Gambles
Photography by : Sutton Arts Theatre
This is a play of brilliantly observed humour, On The Piste is full of laughs.
Telling the story of two holidaying couples – 30s somethings Alison and Chris (Jayne Lunn and Luke Saldana) and 20s somethings Bev and Dave (Harriet Gordon and Dan McCloskey) and the rich and stylish frequenter of the slopes, Melissa (Keyleigh Alison), and you have the formula for two hours comic drama.– On The Piste is set in the French Alpine resort of Chamonix.
Opening with a skier hurtling (well sliding on rollers) down a slope to the very edge of the stage catching everyone unawares. Extracting much humour from the sheer exhaustion of carrying around skiing equipment and balancing on bits of fibreglass, the play doesn’t skimp on keeping the audience engaged and amused.
With an inventive use of set, and some nice physical humour, the couples enjoy a drink together where we learn their histories and secrets, their insecurities, cute quirks and annoying habits, and along the way – too much information about one couple’s bedroom role play. There is also a memorable cable car ride, and an ultra hot sauna which is very eye opening! as they try to enjoy their trip under the roving eye of fit, perma tanned and passionate instructor Tony (enthusiastically played by Paul Atkins), whose presence oozes potential chaos.
Well acted throughout, the play touches on themes of class, Englishman abroad, and explores the shaky foundations on which the two relationships are based. So well-observed, the audience is effectively laughing at ourselves.
Well acted and designed, On The Piste speeds slalom style from mountain to hotel, via sauna and cable car, towards an increasingly inevitable outcome. I found myself continuously giggling – I don’t laugh out loud often, but I made quite a few exceptions for this play.
On until 10th May tickets available from https://suttonartstheatre.savoysystems.co.uk/SuttonArtsTheatre.dll/
