Review: SILVER LINING, Rose Theatre

It's a common complaint that as you get older, you start to become invisible to others. This is compounded further if you are an actress over a certain age. The recent performances of actresses such as Glenda Jackson as Lear have highlighted even more that there is dearth of roles for older women compared with their male counterparts.

Silver Lining was written to try and address this problem, giving five detailed roles to older women. Sandi Toskvig was moved after hearing a story from a notable actress in her eighties who said she was often ignored in restaurants now, as she had become 'invisible' with age.

The play is set in a retirement home in Gravesend, where a group of women fight daily boredom and monotony. As a storm rages outside and the flood water rises, it becomes clear that no one is coming to rescue them. If they are going to survive, the women must save themselves.

The group is united in their disappointment of where life has brought them. Their love affairs are over, their relationships were either covert or unfulfilling, any relatives they have have abandoned them and now they must face almost certain death. Subtle and nuanced it ain't.

Leopard print-clad Gloria is played with feisty aplomb by Shelia Reid. A modern and sharp character, she exudes confidence as she posts selfies on Twitter and witty messages to her great-nephew on Whatsapp. Reid plays the character beautifully, especially as the depths of Gloria's character are uncovered, such as her history of depression and suicide.

Wheelchair-bound May has the sharpest mind of the group, which gives Maggie McCarthy some of the play's best lines. Her delivery is clipped and forthright, with a bitingly droll retort to everything.

Her sister June is equally amusing, but for very different reasons. Joanna Monro is great in her unknowingly racist, homophobic and overtly Christian role. Her revelations at being utterly bored and frustrated in her marriage to a seemingly more important partner will resonate with many.

Rachel Davies as Maureen and Amanda Walker as St Michael are underdeveloped. Despite revelations about predilections for sex toys and an unlikely brawl with a would-be looter (Theo Toksvig-Stewart), they remain rather one-dimensional.

Keziah Joseph is an energetic force as foul-mouthed carer Hope. She bursts into the story in a flurry of hashtags and modern slang that is completely foreign to the ears of the residents. She is young, confident and also black. In one cringing moment, June asks her if she is Caribbean, when, in fact, she is just from Croydon.

Toskvig's writing occasionally shines and some of the play is very funny, but the comedy is very much of a type: older, white and middle-class. Jokes about the St Michael brand and film The Poseidon Adventure will likely be incomprehensible to anyone under the age of 25. Hope's behaviour and language is deliberately exaggerated, so it is so alien to both the retirement home residents and certain audience members. Prolific jokes about sex and swearing are based on that supposedly universal truth that it's funny when old ladies swear, especially if they swear with received pronunciation.

The character of Hope is there to highlight the lack of respect that society often has for old people. If people are elderly, they are perceived as being worthless and uninteresting. Hope's education that this is not the case is a little trite and feels forced rather than suggested.

Director Rebecca Gatward and Toksvig have clearly worked to develop a connection between cast members. Most characters, although often exaggerated into caricatures of the elderly, have believable gripes and issues. However, the message that old people are as valuable and important as others in society is sometimes lost in the implausible story of surviving the flood.

This is a play that often feels like a sitcom, although not a very good one. Much of the comedy is obvious, but the overall result is sometimes funny and occasionally emotional. The underlying idea and motivation is brilliant, the play is less so.

Photo Credit: Mark Douet

Silver Lining is touring until 8 April

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