Slightly reminiscent of Schnitzler's wonderful La Ronde, which of course inspired David Hare's The Blue Room, Modern Dance for Beginners, by Sarah Phelps, revolves around a series of sexual encounters linked to each other by a common bond. Nicola Walker and Justin Salinger play all the characters, switching from one to the next on stage as part of the action. The first and last scene involve the same two characters bringing the play full circle. 
      Frances and Owen, the catalysts in a sense for the interactions which follow, are seen in a hotel bedroom on the night of Owen's wedding. It is soon clear that he is going to be unfaithful to his bride of four hours. In the next scene we see the bride, desperate for some attention and physical gratification, trying to get her odd–job man to give her what she craves. Then we see Frances again with her lover, a colleague who she sleeps with but nothing more. He has suddenly decided he wants a relationship, not just sex – something Frances has no wish for. Then there is Owen again with a young girl he has picked up because she reminds him of Frances. Then Frances's boss who is having an affair with Owen's doctor and then we are back in the first scene again and eventually some of it makes sense. 
      There are some very nice touches here, both in the writing and in the performances. The scene changes are fun and dramatic with the actors helping each other to change costume, accompanied by fun music and good lighting effects. Nicola Walker has a wonderful presence and her transformations of character are impressive. But overall it left me wanting more – or perhaps you could say, less. Everything was on show: the emotions too open, some of the jokes too obvious. The set, unfortunately, despite being great to look at was not conducive to interesting direction. Every scene had to be played almost straight on as there was nowhere else to go. It would have worked better with a few basic pieces of furniture instead of trying to recreate five different rooms in the same space. 
      I enjoyed a lot of the production but in the end I felt that a potentially very moving and serious subject had been treated a little too lightly.
Francine Brody