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No country for old women: Old Ladies - at Finborough Theatre

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The day after seeing The Old Ladies at the Finborough Theatre , I was describing the play to someone in great detail: about three old ladies who lived in a rickety house in southern England in 1935. Based on Hugh Walpole’s novel and adapted by Rodney Ackland, it is the sort of story with enough believability, humour and mild thriller to stick in your mind. Perhaps it is the lure of this dark, forboding tale of a life without money, to be alone and to be old, that makes you feel attracted to this poverty porn. But then again, given the state of the world, the cost of living, an ageing population, or just the fact that it’s a dog-eat-dog world, it might as well be an every little old lady-for-herself, too. It’s a well-acted and staged piece that moves at a brisk pace, so there isn’t much time to think about it too much. And in the intimate (or should that be claustrophobic?) space of the Finborough, there’s nowhere to avert your eyes. Even if you wanted to.  The scene is a grim Cathe...

Cough medicine: Quiz

You don’t often expect to go to a show where coughing during the performance is essential part of it. James Graham’s Quiz at Noel Coward Theatre elevates a minor moment in history into a melodrama fit for television. The story is around the trial of Charles and Diana Ingram who were convicted of trying to defraud the quiz show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” in 2003. Mostly through a series of well-timed coughs.

Cameras roll, music roars, the mob votes on little gizmos. There’s even a nod to the humble pub quiz as its origins. It is fun. But it’s also a night that leaves you thinking about another quiz show. Pointless. The production is drunk on the television gimmicks it’s trying to critique. The glamour of television, instant polls and dazzling lighting. 

All come at the expense of character development and a convincing argument about confirmation bias. You get a chance to vote on whether they’re guilty twice. Once before interval and once at the end. It’s set up to get people to be more open minded second time around. But that’s only if you care about the characters. What comes across strongest is they’re odd and generally unlikable, even if you didn’t know the Ingram’s would be later convicted for insurance fraud.

The performers do their best with the material. But they’re no match for razzle dazzle of showbiz. At times it touches on some serious issues. The manufactured news from a relentless publicity machine. The cosy relationship between the police and press. 

But this is no Network. Soon there’s another instant poll or pub quiz to answer and we’re back to a night where the pursuit of the trivial is all that’s at stake. If that’s all the West End can offer you’d be better off staying in and watching the evening news. 

Directed by Daniel Evans, Quiz is at the Noel Coward Theatre until 16 June.

⭐️⭐️

Photos by Johan Persson.


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