Alphabetical Order New Vic Theatre

CUTTINGS. Newspaper cuttings. Browning, yellowing, spilling from dog-eared manila folders stored in dusty filing cabinets. Who in this world of googled and blackberried wisdom recalls this was how knowledge was once kept?

The answer, of course, is anyone of a certain age who worked in an organisation needing answers to the niggling questions which today are resolved at the click of a computer keyboard.

So it is in Alphabetical Order, which opened last night at the New Vic. The setting is a newspaper library in the pre-computer world of the mid-1970s, where Lucy (Isobel Middleton) presides over a chaos of cuttings and mid-life crises – some her own, some belonging to her dysfunctional and, by current criteria, unemployable colleagues.

These are generally larger than life. Messenger Geoffrey (David Bowen) exudes irritating bonhomie, while bumbling reporter Arnold (John O'Mahoney) bashes out only a handful of words on his typewriter.

Into this alphabetical disorder steps Lesley (Laura Doddington), as methodical as Lucy is messy. The office is transformed and becomes almost a harbinger of Thatcherite efficiency. At the same time, however, something is lost: the fun, the humanity.

But not quite. Towards the end of the play there is a hilarious and riotous reversal. To give details would perhaps spoil the fun: it should be seen to be savoured. Suffice it to say that the stage-staff – possibly the true heroes in Gwenda Hughes' lively production – have some clearing-up to do.

At this point Michael Frayn's comedy, like all good comedies, contains a serious message.

Alphabetical Order forms part of a mini-season of Michael Frayn plays and, together with Copenhagen, runs until Saturday, June 12. Details and tickets are available from the New Vic on 01782 717962.

Paul Gubbins