York Theatre Royal – 28 March 2017. Reviewed by Marcus Richardson
‘Silver Lining’ is a new comedy by Sandi Toksvig, if that name sounds familiar that’s because she took over Stephan Fry on ‘QI’ and will soon be presenting the ‘Great British Bake-Off”.
The play with its very feminist and socio-political roots explores issues such as how we treat the elderly and people of different genders, race and sexuality, touching upon these issues can be dodgy as there is a fine line between a joke and an insult, when watching this play I found myself laughing all the way through and not at one point did I find anything a step too far.
It follows a group of old women who are left abandoned in their care home whilst a flood is about to destroy the house, waiting for help that isn’t going to arrive they decide to work it out for themselves. The cast was made up of 5 old ladies each with a unique but wacky personality, the interaction between each other on stage is one of the most hilarious things that you can see on stage; you will be laughing from start to finish.
I loved the character May Trickett (Maggie McCarthy), she stole the show for her interaction with June Partridge (Joanna Monro) as sisters was just so funny to watch since they couldn’t be more apart, with one being the one we all love and the one we try to love. The actors were absolutly stunning with Keziah Joseph who played the young trendy girl Hope Daley, whose job is to escort them out of the building, the script was so funny and the way she worked with it added so much comic value to the play.
The Stage was transformed into the communal area of the care home and gave a naturalistic feel to the play, I love how the actors used the stage to the max, with a sewing machine at the back and several seats around the stage. Now if you go to the theatre often you know you will always be reminded to turn your phone off, we had a rather sweet message about turning your phone and support nonmusical theatre that doesn’t have a celebrity cast from Sandi Toskvig which made the whole audience laugh before the play even begun.
As part of English Touring Theatre, the show will be going around the UK and is in York until The 1st of April, if you can go and see the show you will love it as much is I do, This is defiantly topping all other comedies I have seen and has headed straight to the top as my favourite comedy. Sandi Toskvig and cast has done an amazing job in creating a hilarious but eye opening comedy that touches issues in a light manner