The Last Quiz Night on Earth

When Todmorden AODS invited me to watch their first production for 2025, I will admit, I did not know what to expect. ‘The Last Quiz Night on Earth’ a comedy play written by Alison Carr, was a cleverly conceived pub quiz within a drama. The venue for this production was Todmorden Cricket Club, ideal for a drama of this genre. The tables were set for teams, with drinks available at the bar before the show and during the interval. This was an actual pub quiz where the audience were part of the story. On entering the bar area and taking our seats, the audience could hear apt tunes picked out for ambience, ‘Don’t Fear the Reaper,’ Fade to Grey,’ and, ‘BitterSweet Symphony’ added a touch of dark humour whilst we waited for the performance to begin.

The world is ending, an extinction level meteor is on a direct collision with earth and there is no chance of survival. That is what the radio announced as Kathy, the bartender of The Four Horsemen started greeting her customers and they began to settle down. Rather than trying to outrun the inevitable, Kathy and her barkeeper, Rav, have decided to open their doors and put on the last ever quiz night, in a typically British ‘keep calm and carry on’ fashion. Their reasoning is they would rather enjoy their last few hours with their friends than try to run. The unexpected arrival of Kathy’s brother Bobby and Rav’s childhood girlfriend Fran brings to a head old tensions, betrayals, falsehoods, and secrets that need settling before the end of the world.

Director Elizabeth Holland produced a jolly funny play, with lots of audience participation, the quiz literally bringing the audience into the centre of the drama.  Anne Friday was comical as the landlady of The Four Horsemen, Kathy. Bubbly and chatty, she ruled her pub like it was her kingdom, it was her world, her entire life. Naturally, the thought of leaving her pub when faced with impending doom was not an option. Why run when there is no escape. Anne has some great one liners, delivered conversationally rather than as scripted dialogue. The audience laughed heartily at Anne’s characterisation. Theo Hewson-Betts played bar worker and pub quiz compiler/compare Rav. Rav is ‘outed’ by Kathy as his childhood sweetheart, Fran, arrives to declare her undying love. Theo was confident as the play began, his character loud and self assured, losing some of that prowess as he admitted that he did not love Fran how she loved him. Theo was great calling out the quiz questions, trying to keep the ever-increasing noise from the quizzers to a minimum. Bursting through the pub doors like a man possessed came Kathy’s brother Bobby, played by John Spooner.. Absent for 20 years he had run across the country for 7 hours to get to his sister. Unable to comprehend why she won’t leave with him, Bobby frantically paced and worried before finally admitting he had no family left at home. John is a strong character actor; he employed some great facial expressions. His capacity for emoting was impressive, as his character went through panic, anger, frustration, and guilt before finally making his peace with his sister. Ceri Garnett was comical as Fran, having travelled 40 minutes by bicycle, just to tell Rav that she had never stopped loving him, he was mortified to realise that he was in fact gay. Ceri had some great physical relations, her hands were shaking with fear and adrenaline, her speech was deliberately rushed as she finally bared her sole. She also had some great one line come backs that made the audience howl with laughter. The play ended as the quiz finished and the winners were announced, and just in time as the meteor hit and everything fell into silent darkness.

As this production was set in an existing club, there was not much in the way of crew involvement. Posters had been erected, advertising the pub name and quiz details. Lights were natural for the venue, sound effects and radio announcements were clear. Iain Mackness designed the sound whilst Stage Manager Hannah Sutcliffe ensured there were no gremlins on the night. The cast used all available space around the sides and back of the audience, as well as the front bar area for the quizzing.  

I enjoyed the concept of this production, the message, act now as tomorrow is not guaranteed, was front and centre. It was a heartwarming, hilarious evening that my plus one and I thoroughly enjoyed. I would like to thank Todmorden AODS for a wonderful evening and look forward to watching many more productions from them in the future.

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