"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."
"In our polarised times, it feels radical for Ayckbourn to propose that Daniel might simply be good. The stranger is seeking neither to rob the older man nor to turn his house into a drug den. The level-headed Gerald, a retired teacher, has too sharp a mind to tolerate the nay-saying neighbours. Their cynicism about Daniel, he says, is like the Pharisees saying of Jesus, We don't trust him, he's altogether far too nice."
"But the playwright would rather celebrate those who bring joy, such as Gerald's late wife Amy, or comfort, such as Daniel, than those who sow only division. Despite the play's title, the many references to death and the allusions to Jesus, Ayckbourn's plea for decency is secular not spiritual. Daniel's evasiveness gives him an otherworldly air, but the play has less to do with the supernatural than with the 1954 doo-wop hit Earth Angel by the Penguins."
Adrian Prosper, a retired police officer, reacts to his newly bereaved brother-in-law Gerald's friendship with a young enigmatic man, Daniel, with deep suspicion. Adrian's wife Maxine and neighbours Norah and Hugo amplify mistrust through fear, small-mindedness and online conspiracism. Gerald defends Daniel, insisting the newcomer brings comfort rather than harm, though a later twist reveals complex human motives rather than criminality. The narrative privileges joy and comfort—embodied by Gerald's late wife Amy and Daniel—over division. The story includes repeated references to death and biblical allusions, yet frames its plea for decency in secular terms, invoking the 1954 doo-wop hit 'Earth Angel.'
Read at www.theguardian.com
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