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GEOFF BOTTOMS relishes a profoundly human portrait of a family as it evolves across 55 years in Sheffield
Growing old gracelessly
PAUL DONOVAN applauds an excellently crafted new musical that explores the life and death of Ruth Ellis
PAUL DONOVAN is tickled by the excruciating take-downs of one of the funniest, wittiest, political writers around.
RON JACOBS points out, via a transcription of Kissinger’s secret recordings, that Trump could never have existed without Nixon and Kissinger
ELLIS RAE is persuaded that the advantages of the ‘talking cure’ are superior to the treatment of mental illness with drugs
JOHN GREEN, MICHAL BONCZA and BELLA KATZ review The Good Boy, Broken English, and Don't Be Prey
Trestle
Southwark Playhouse
London
THE SCENARIO of a man and a woman trapped by circumstance and the limitations they place upon themselves is the theme of the big London theatre hit of recent months, David Eldridge's Beginning at the National Theatre, and it bears many more similarities to Stewart Pringle's prize-winning debut play Trestle than just its one-word title.
In Eldridge's play, widower Harry (Gary Lilburn) carries out his retirement duties as chair of Billingham's Improvement Committee with diligence. But there's little excitement to be had. So, when the sparky yet blunt Denise (Connie Walker) turns up for her zumba class, his idle muscles start to reactivate and he even reluctantly dons his own exercise gear at one point.
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