Earth Angel review – Alan Ayckbourn’s 91st play is a plea for decency

Stephen Joseph theatre, Scarborough
In our polarised times, this is a generous look at a friendship between an enigmatic young man and a grieving widower

Adrian Prosper is a no-nonsense kind of guy. A retired police officer, he has dealt with enough lowlifes to see the worst in everyone. Played with frightening humourlessness by Stuart Fox, he is all suspicion and mistrust. When his newly bereaved brother-in-law, Gerald (Russell Richardson), is befriended by Daniel (Iskandar Eaton), an enigmatic young man, he thinks only the worst of the relationship.

And he is not alone. In Alan Ayckbourn’s 91st play, he is joined in speculative plotting by Maxine (Liza Goddard), his misanthropic wife, as well as Gerald’s neighbours, the well-meaning Norah (Elizabeth Boag) and the online conspiracist Hugo (Hayden Wood). They are stoked by fear, small-mindedness and tribalism.