Review: 1.17AM, OR UNTIL THE WORDS RUN OUT, Finborough Theatre

Two best friends, the ghost of Katie’s brother, a secret. When Roni shows up at Charlie’s old flat, she finds Katie rummaging through his things while a party is in full swing upstairs. When Charlie died months prior, Katie disappeared from Roni’s life, leaving her without a place to stay and without her Best Friend. A lot has happened since then. Katie is starting her PhD, and Roni is about to kick off her own business. They both feel lost and alone. 1.17am, or until the words run out is an engrossing, tragic new play. Zoe Hunter Gordon writes with naturalistic precision to deconstruct the aftermath of a death.

While Katie is juggling the confusion and heartbreak of losing her brother, Roni’s arrival is a reckoning. Katie will have to reconcile the image of Charlie she’d had all her life with the truth that lies behind their distance. Hunter Gordon fragments the dialogue, reproducing the rhythm of a struggling friendship in a real-time conversation. Katie’s antagonism manifests with sharp, clipped responses to Roni’s attempts at reconnecting, and their verbal sparring becomes a fiery confrontation.

The remains of their affection creates an emotionally intense and visibly painful tension. Director Sarah Stacey pulls them apart, orbiting them around Charlie’s bed like planets circling the sun. Roni keeps approaching Katie at the beginning, but the second half flips the dynamic: Katie tries hard to reach out physically, always stopping short, fearful of Roni’s revelations and what they mean for Charlie’s memory. They break down and shatter in turns, creating a constant bubbling of emotion. 

Catherine Ashdown (Katie) and Eileen Duffy (Roni) are phenomenal. They deliver mature performances, unresolved in their humanity and complex in their sensitivity. Their pain keeps twisting, shooting from different places, and bereavement isn’t the sole subject covered by their encounter. The piece brings up a variety of issues, from class divide to abusive relationships, but effectively avoids any forced rhetoric or moralising. More than anything, it successfully manages not to be forceful in its intent.

The emotional complexity of Katie and Roni’s relationship informs how they move in their world. They each have their motives and objectives, all strikingly unreproachable and realistic. They’re defensive, hurtful, apologetic, sorry for themselves, each other, and their shared history. They feel real. Running in a mere 75-minute rush, the play is distilled and passionate. It might look slender, but the contents are powerful and excellently calibrated to hit the right beats at the right time. It’s an accomplished production on all sides.

1.17am, or until the words run out runs at Finborough Theatre until 7 March.