Silver Lining

‘Silver Lining’ is a play written by British-Danish playwright Sandi Toksvig (best known for hosting the comedy quiz QI) and is centred around four (or maybe five?) elderly women in a Gravesend Nursing home during a terrible violent storm. Produced by Cody McGinty in his debut directing role and co-produced by Donnamarie Stamp, this is a bitter-sweet often bawdy comedy, about a disregarded and underestimated generation, who when push comes to shove, remember just what they are made of and the many talents that they have long forgotten.   

The ladies each have their own individual personalities which quickly becomes evident; Gloria (Liz Williams) is a leopard-skin clad ‘techy’ (whose internet name is ‘SexyOldBird’) constantly texting her nephew Nathan on her mobile phone, obviously trying to dismiss the stereotype of an out of touch elderly old woman and desperately trying to hang on to her youth.  Maureen (Sarah Mullins), listening to her music on her headphones, is a hypochondriac and former actress and even had a small part with Richard Gere as she delights in telling anyone who’ll listen.  May (Lizzie Brooks) is sarcastic and plain-speaking and, since she is in a wheelchair, is tended to by her sister June who she describes as a prejudiced, homophobic racist.  June (Sarah McKay) is a swimming obsessed Christian with very extreme views about morality who delights in bringing round her Angel bowl of pithy quotes.   

All the women are looked after by Matron and have slipped into a routine of helplessness spending much of their time bickering with each other, especially long-suffering sisters May and June.  We also discover Gloria and Maureen have had a fall out following Gloria turning one of Maureen’s skirts into bunting and they haven’t spoken since. May just wishes that June would go back to her family and leave her alone to fend for herself.

Outside the weather is getting progressively more severe with flood waters rising around the building.  Gloria is keeping track of the progress of Storm Vera on her mobile via the weather reports and we hear sound effects of thunder and lightning through the window.  The residents do not seem unduly worried about their plight as they firmly believe that someone will come and rescue them.

Suddenly a young woman bursts into the room.  This is Hope (Emma Spencer) a carer wearing a black bin bag and carrying a mobile phone while doing selfies using a #binbag for her blog.  Hope is less than enamoured with the elderly residents admitting ‘I don’t like old people’ believing them responsible for all the world’s current problems especially global warming and climate change.

While exploring the rooms, Hope discovers another resident, an old lady in a wheelchair clutching a mysterious wooden box.  The other residents have never seen her before and through checking her ‘Marks & Spencer’ dressing gown, decide to call her ‘St Michael.’  Hope is disgusted and refuses to touch her saying scornfully that ‘she wants dusting’. 

Hope tries to get the residents to gather some of their personal belongings ready for evacuation resulting in June turning up with a large cardboard cut-out of herself when she was Slimmer of the Year.  May sardonically quips that she celebrated with cake and put it all back on.  St Michael (played by the wonderful Betty Teanby) constantly talks about the past and sings random advertising jingles.  When May opens the enigmatic box she discovers, to her bemusement, that it is full of an assortment of sex toys!

The storm continues to rage outside, and the ladies steadfastly refuse to budge much to Hope’s frustration, so she decides to leave them to their own devices.  Eventually the power goes out plunging the residents into an eerie half light.  The ladies are vulnerable and helpless.   All these empty buildings are easy pickings for dubious characters. Enter Jed (David Warren) a torch carrying looter looking for valuables.  It looks like the ladies are in serious trouble as when Hope returns soaked to the skin due to the rising waters, he ties her to a chair and gags her.  But these ladies are not ready to be written off just yet.  Maureen shows what a lifetime of dealing with bullying males has led to and confidently despatches the would-be burglar, much to the delight of the other residents and grudging respect from Hope.  Now the ladies finally realise the seriousness of their predicament and that they will have to depend on their own ingenuity and long forgotten brain-power to survive the fast approaching deluge.

Liz Williams played Gloria like a leopard clad cougar strutting around the stage in flashing trainers clutching her mobile which was her contact with the outside world.  She bantered hilariously with the other characters especially Maureen who she called ‘Mrs Mole Strangler’ and took great delight in winding her up.  Her disappointment when she learnt that her nephew was not prepared to sacrifice his safety to rescue her was very poignant and Liz performed this change in behaviour very well.  We also discover that the outwardly confident Gloria has been nursing a very deep secret of her own clutching a matchbox containing tablets that she has been collecting to enable her to end her own life.

Sarah Mullins as Maureen was good as the faded actress who really came into her own when making props for the ‘great escape.’  Her sparring with Gloria provided much of the comedy.  Lizzie Brooks was brilliant as the bitter May, her world-weary voice showing her frustration with her sister, June.  Her scene where she spoke with such tenderness about her long-term partner Peggy and her simmering anger about being excluded at her deathbed by Peggy’s family, due to the nature of their relationship, was very sensitively handled.  June played by Sarah McKay again hid a secret of her own and was devastated when her kleptomania was exposed giving an empty ring to her over the top Christian pomposity and holier than thou attitude.

Emma Spencer was excellent as the ageist and prejudiced Hope.  Her disgust at the apparent helplessness of the grannies was performed very well and her look of horror at having to wear one of their nighties was hilarious! I loved her character development as she saw a different side to the residents and her respect for their long-buried talents increased.  This was especially true for May whose ability to create a fully working radio from the most basic of materials had Hope humbled and her reveal that she was lesbian really knocked her for six!

David Warren played a cocky looter who had an unforeseen come-uppance at the hands of the feisty ladies.  Betty Teanby as the enigmatic ‘St Michael’ was fantastic as the apparently batty addition to the residents chipping in with random comments and advertising jingles.  The huge gasp from the audience as wheelchair bound Betty (St Michael) almost skipped over to the makeshift raft was hilarious!  It was lovely to see the more mature ladies playing such powerful roles in a play which challenges perceived prejudices about older people and addresses many important issues such as sexual orientation and discrimination, while maintaining a balance between humour and pathos.

The set was a one room scene, consisting of a large window where the effects of the storm could be seen via the use of flashing lights.  There were three doors which were used effectively by the cast, and it was good to see the attention to detail extending down the ‘corridors’ off stage.  I loved Maureen’s fish in a coffee jug, the life-size cut out of June’s ‘Slimmer of the Year’ and of course, St Michael’s colourful assortment of dildos!

Well done Cody McGinty and your team, on a successful show and I look forward to seeing your future productions. It was lovely to meet you, Donnamarie and the cast backstage.  Thank you for another warm welcome it is always a pleasure to come and see your shows and a real treat to see Betty the legend in action at the ripe old age of 96 - a true testament to the central theme of the show – never underestimate or write off an OAP!

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