How much do we really know about our friends? Do we know them well enough to write a Best Man's speech? Or half way through would we realise that in actual fact we don't know them as well as we'd like to think? 
      Henry is very much looking forward the upcoming nuptials of his two best friends, Tony and Fiona. In fact he has been planning their wedding in his head for quite a while now. He's even given their two yet unconceived children names. However he cannot quite get a Best Man's speech together. Tony, the groom, is Henry's oldest friend. They spent their childhood together in Mrs Worstedholme's sweet shop, stealing penny chews. They went to school together and even copied each other's homework. Tony was the sporty one and Henry was the swotty one, but despite the differences they remained friends throughout the years. 
     Yet somehow Henry cannot seem to remember any funny anecdotes (besides the sweet shop) about his 'best friend', or any stories. In fact he is not even too sure what exactly Henry does for a living! So with some goading from his beautiful new flatmate Alison, he agrees to allow her to use her 'journalist intuition' to research Tony for his speech. 
      After just a little digging by Alison, the fantasy children and life Henry had idealised for his friends begin to look more and more farfetched. Henry is so obsessed with his friends' perfect relationship that he can't see that the relationship is in truth a mere sham. 
      Best Men has a wonderful Wildean script with contemporary twists and turns. Charlie Carter, as Henry the history postgraduate and appointed best man, gives a very funny performance, showing how he hides from life in books and naive romanticism. His performance is well balanced by Audrie Woodhouse as Alison his stunning housemate. Her performance anchors the whole play, and she is by far the most comfortable in her role as the alluring 'life style journalist'. 
      The best thing about this good play is the poignant and witty script. The pace might have been a little less hectic to give the audience a chance to savour it more. But nothing detracts from the fact that this is a lovely, passionate play about friendship, memory, and the trials and tribulations of modern dysfunctional romance.
Elizabeth Shenton