Quartet hits the high notes at Milton Keynes Theatre
Classy act from four veterans of stage and screen.
THERE are certain benchmarks to quality theatre that are hard to dispute. You know that something special will be created if Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are in a cast.
You know Alan Bennett and Tom Stoppard rarely write duffs and so it is that you know if you are going to get a cast of the quality that appeared at Milton Keynes Theatre this week in Ronald Harwood's Quartet then you're in for a great evening's entertainment.
On paper the plot sounded as arthritic as its characters but just a few seconds in the company of Timothy West and the auditorium was giggling with joy.
In a twist on the usual silver sagas we meet a group of retired opera singers who live in a home that especially caters for their needs. There's a music room, which three have claimed as their own, and each year parties and concerts are held to celebrate the births of the great composers.
Into this reasonably happy bunch comes a cuckoo in the form of former opera diva Jean Horton who has reluctantly fallen on hard times.
The randy and lascivious Wilf (West) relishes the chance of getting reacquainted – actually he'd love the chance of getting reacquainted with anything female that he could get his hands on but he's more bark than bite – with the old star.
But his friend, Reg, has cause to dread Jean's arrival for they were once, briefly, married, and it was a most acrimonious parting.
Making up the Quartet is the eccentric Cecily who is terrified about losing her marbles and succumbing to old age. She has panic attacks and keeps welcoming people back from far flung visits when, in fact, they've only been to the loo.
Wilf rages against growing decrepitude and his smutty remarks, mainly to Cecily when she's wearing headphones and immersed in her music, are his way of angrily fighting the ageing . He wants Viagra, his doctor prescribes something to calm him down.
"I think about sex all bloody day and night. I should be past it but I'm not," he declares. "The last thing I need is something to calm me down!"
Meanwhile Reg embraces old age and the calmness and order it gives his life. Cecily is on another planet and Jean can't come to terms with her reduced fortunes.
The comedy flows thick and fast with Wilf getting the lion's share of the best pithy dialogue.
Considering the joint age of the cast – Timothy West, Michael Jayston, Susannah York and Gwen Taylor - is nearly 300 years old it's amazing anyone can actually remember their lines. In the real world all four stars would have retired years ago but the old stagers, like their characters, just can't give up.
There are a few stumbles over lines but in a comedy about the ageing process it can be forgiven. Jayston always gives a refined and dignified performance. At times Reg bordered on the dull – especially compared to the bawdy Wilf – but he is forever a gentleman.
Gwen Taylor makes a great eccentric. Cecily is almost bipolar, one minute bubbling over with youthful enthusiasm and the next plunged into the depths of despair.
Susannah York is something of a shock to see. The once ravishing beauty of the 1960s looks terribly thin and frail and it was impossible to imagine her having the physical ability to sing opera. Her diva lacked haughtiness but was coolly elegant and beautifully dressed.
The Quartet, once famous for singing a particular opera, are being encouraged to perform the finale at a concert marking Verdi's birth and the lively foursome must settle their differences if they are to pull together for one last performance.
It's a moving tribute to the elderly who face the final act of their lives with dignity and fortitude.
Quartet runs until Saturday. For tickets call the box office 0844 8717652 or go online www.ambassadortickets.com/miltonkeynes
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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