Theater

‘Arrivals & Departures’ never quite takes off

WITH 78 plays to his credit, Alan Ayckbourn’s been compared to Neil Simon and Anton Chekhov. But while he’s given us such brilliant comedies as “The Norman Conquests,” his new “Arrivals & Departures” is an awkward blend of farce and comedy. It covers a lot of ground without getting anywhere.

The action is set in a London railway station where a British security agency, the Strategic Simulated Distractional Operations Unit, is laying a trap for a terrorist it suspects will soon arrive by train. A comically officious Major Quentin (Bill Champion) leads a ragtag team that includes Barry (Kim Wall), a garrulous Yorkshire traffic cop who’s the only one who can identify him and, to protect Barry, Ez (Elizabeth Boag), a taciturn female soldier with a troubled past.

Bill Champion and Kim Wall in “Arrivals & Departures.”Andrew Higgins

As the agents pose none-too-convincingly as tourists and Barry gets on Ez’s nerves (“In Yorkshire I’m considered perfectly normal,” he explains), tragic flashbacks cut into the action.

It’s soon clear that this elaborate setup is really a framework for a character study of the two principals. In the first act we learn about a traumatic incident involving Ez and her boyfriend, while in the second we’re privy to Barry’s fractious family history. The stories often mirror each other, and each time we return to the main action we see it replayed from a slightly different perspective.

It’s a clever conceit that doesn’t pay off. The stakeout is boring, and the tragic event that provides the climax is played for cheap laughs.

Ayckbourn directed this himself, and while his staging is self-indulgent and occasionally confusing, he elicits fine performances from his cast. “Arrivals & Departures” is performed by Scarborough, England’s Stephen Joseph Theatre under the umbrella title “Ayckbourn Ensemble” which also includes two other works — “Time of My Life” and “Farcicals” — performed in repertory. With luck, they’ll show the 75-year-old playwright in better form.