Doreen Mantle plays the indomitable lady and is the strength and core of the production. Her performance blossoms before us: a lifetime dedicated to the acting craft shines in skilful nuance from coyness to calculating; timing, tone and expression seem so effortless, yet prove a wicked delight. Share her disdain for the “Over 50s Fun Club”. Watch her every breath!
Her hero, Veitch, is sympathetically played by Nick Waring. From the start Veitch is struggling to win her home at any cost. Gradually, delicately, Waring shows him awakening through her influence. The audience share the growing warmth as he rewards her trust – despite his worse-self. Alec Walters plays almost a fairy godmother, reminding Veitch of the true, just path.
Clive Carter adds vital dynamism to the production, shaking us out of the cosy past with a glimpse of current reality. Contrasted to such sweetness in the other characters, he offers vital menace and convinces us that he really is capable of anything.
Shona Lindsay has a difficult line to follow, yet conjures a convincing, complex character. Initially she seems too hard and selfish for Veitch, their relationship is thinly drawn and her conversion seems too quick, but she manoeuvres these weaknesses with skill to show us a woman who was lost but has found her true self again.
The set is a further character in the play. Beautifully and delicately realised so we can understand Miss Barwick’s attachment, even the wiring has a voice.
Go to laugh, go to cry, go for an acting masterclass, go for old-times, just go for the sake of it – there is something for most people to enjoy here. Its not trying to change or shock the world, but it does invite us to reconsider the elderly, the past, and values which are swiftly disappearing. Anyone who knows an elderly fighter (who will not listen to “common-sense”) will be cheering for Miss Barwick to the end!
Derek Benfield