Quays Theatre, The Lowry, Manchester – 3rd July 2017. Reviewed by Julie Noller
Back in the 90’s my teenage self never actually watched Waiting For God, therefore I was looking forward to what I perceived would be a play of light humour or light entertainment to coin that old TV phrase. My friend on the other hand was really excited as she had loved the show.
The Lowry is the last stop on its U.K tour yet the cast showed no sign of tiredness. The set made clever use of the space with the two apartments either side of the stage and any set changes being subtle and swift, a table added to centre stage for the dining hall inside Bayview, a hospital bed for the hip replacement and birth scene (note to reader not at the same time) chairs added for hospital waiting rooms, wow all this in just under two hours! In a nutshell it was indeed light entertainment, I chuckled, I thought of my own parents, of my Grandparents, of my future. It was full of witty one liners with the sarcasm very typically British.
Originally penned by Michael Aitkins as a stage play, it’s polished and at most times it moves with fast paced slickness, written with Mick Jagger in mind – The Jagger Syndrome. The idea that generations are changing how we no longer retire at 65 and put our feet up. The characters are all written with great understanding of age and its many issues from Jane (Emily Pithon) Harvey (Samuel Collings) Sarah (Joanna Chase) and Geoffrey (David Benson) all younger.
Portraying the naivety that youth exudes, searching for perfection, dreaming, hope. Love connects them to our twilighters (don’t call them senior citizens) who are superbly portrayed by Nichola McAuliffe as Diana Trent, deliciously naughty giving me some hope for life in 20 years time, I want to start plotting and behave very badly. She knows she shouldn’t but when you’re bored with playing solitaire (and cheating with yourself) after years as a War photographer, she discovers that there’s nobody stopping her, challenging her still sharp mind. She wants to drink gin and dance (hip permitting) she wants to feel like a woman – which of course she is, but we are all guilty of viewing those in twilight years as no longer man and woman but tagged as old – such a shame. Jeffery Holland is a far cry from Spike in Hi-di-Hi, as Tom Ballard he’s led a life, his son is hen pecked and it was interesting to see how the characters interact, with Diana encouraging him to stand up to his wife, maybe not with the result he ideally wanted but showing that regardless of age, trials and tribulations of life affect us all. Tom is a sharp dresser and we are never truly sure if he has some genuine senior moments or just enjoys playing with peoples insecurities, he does show an amazing level of understanding towards Dianas personality, allowing her to be herself, a woman but also to bloom. One of my stand out giggles is when Tom turns round in hospital ready to walk away with Diana, he shows no sign of the embarrassment that cripples many of those with youth on their side. He expertly flashes his bottom to the audience, oh those gowns, we’ve all complained about them.
My friend informed me that it was true to the TV series however that ran for five series. I found it was exactly as expected well acted, enjoyable, slick and gave me and the rest of the audience a night of light laughs. I aspire to be like Diana for all her toughness and acting she had a mellow side and emotion briefly showed with the birth of baby Diana, however not for long. Here’s to days to come in our Bayviews of the future drinking gin and behaving badly.