Good roles for older women aren’t plentiful, and April De Angelis’s new play is refreshing in providing no fewer than four. Chief among these is artist Virgie (Marty Cruickshank), who deserted her children when they were young and now announces her plan to mark her 81st birthday by committing suicide.
Those unimpressed by Virgie’s decision include her dowdy and damaged daughter Haydn (Veronica Roberts) as well as her sister Shirley, a brusque politician played with relish by Rachel Bell. Also on hand are an endlessly bickering married couple, writer Sonia and ludicrously vain actor Tom — who tactlessly claims that “Our whole society is drowning in mediocre literature”.
The play’s title may be a nod to Sophocles’s Electra — with its interest in entrapment and revenge — but the first half is far removed from Greek tragedy. Virgie’s tense relationships with friends and family are schematically revealed in a way that calls to mind the opening episode of a new sitcom eager to map out its terrain. In the second half the mood darkens. Although the transition is abrupt, there are touching moments and a genuinely funny one where characters explore the invigorating potential of tribal drumming.
Latest theatre reviews
Samuel West directs efficiently, Cruickshank brings passionate energy to the defiantly selfish Virgie, and there’s a lovingly detailed design by Michael Taylor.
Yet while there are some sharp lines, the meditations on art and ageing are predictable and the plotting feels contrived.
Until May 2 (020 7328 1000, tricycle.co.uk)
Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout
