A Month of Sundays

The play is billed as a comedy and in many ways it is but for older members of the audience it may be a little too close for comfort to the approaching years. Set in the room of Cooper, a resident in a Care Home for the Elderly, the author, Bob Larby, takes a ‘warts and all’ look at the thoughts, feelings and concerns of Cooper and his friend Aylott. The physical and mental problems of the two men are openly discussed between them, sometimes with humour and sometimes with sadness. It is greatly to the credit of the two actors involved that they generated a warm appreciation from the audience.

David Lightfoot as Cooper took on an extensive learning role and had a few ‘senior moments’ but then that was what the play was about. His characterization was excellent and John Emms as Aylott was equally successful, especially as he came to realize the loss of his mental capacities.

Heather Boulby hit all the right notes as the caring nurse for whom Cooper is a favourite patient. In smaller roles Meg Plummer, Coopers daughter Julia, and Jonathan Sharp her husband Peter, convinced as the couple that turned up once a month, dutifully enduring the motorway traffic but adding little to his quality of life. Completing the cast Karen Kirkup took on the part of the cleaning lady with ease but for her direction of this challenging play she must take great credit.

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