As Ayckbourn writes in the programme notes 'there must be very few of us who haven't at some stage attempted to re-invent ourselves', and each of the characters in 'Sugar Daddies' displays this tendency in different ways. Sasha, the innocent, friendly, 'country bumpkin' gradually turns into what she imagines to be a sophisticated woman of the world, a caricature replete in stilettos and red lipstick to please the sugar daddy of the piece, Uncle Val. In turn it is revealed that Val, introduced to us as a bumbling caring old man who takes the fragile Sasha under his wing, in fact has a murky past with hints at prostitution, gangs, and shootings. Chloe, Sasha's half sister, presents herself as a confident, independent career woman but in fact is hopelessly stuck in a disastrous relationship, has a career that is going nowhere and is very close to completely losing the plot. Lastly, there is Ashley, the girls' new next-door neighbour and a retired policeman, who has a bluff and uncaring exterior but transforms in his desire to protect Sasha, who is the kind of daughter he wishes he had, from the bad influence of Val.

The most dramatic piece of self-deception is Sasha's. Missing the attention of her parents, she is swept away by uncle Val's affections, the gifts he buys her and the glamorous places he takes her to. What Ayckbourn shows is how people, sometimes imperceptibly, hold sway over each other and how much the desire to please can overtake personalities and destroy independence. Ayckbourn reserves some of his blackest comedy for Sasha's depressing transformation from untidy, carefree student to brainless dollybird. The strength of this tragi-comedy is brought to the fore by a superb performance by Alison Pargeter playing Sasha. Her drunken debate with herself comparing what she sees as the two types of people in the world; complicated or friendly, is a highlight of the first half. Throughout the play Pargeter gives Sasha a delicate balance of fragility and strength ensuring that when Val starts to show his true bullying colours she is able to draw the line under their relationship. Pargeter was nominated for the Manchester Evening News Best Actress in a Visiting Production award for her performance in this play, and I would very much like to see the performance that won the award and bettered this passionate, charismatic and charming display.

This play is successful because, aside from the 'May to December' relationships, the garish transformation of Sasha (and her flat) and a strange incident with a mobile phone, the message of the play is all too recognisable to all of us: we all have faults and the desire to impress is impossible to maintain in the long term. Again, as Ayckbourn says in his notes; 'We don't change…we just learn to live with our limitations and, if we're clever, hide a few of them from others.' If you're clever, you will go and see this play.

Alison Yates, 27.01.04