When the timid and impecunious Miss Beringer moves into her new lodgings, she is warmly received by her sympathetic and kindly landlady, Mrs Amorest. However, her relationship with her fellow lodger soon proves far more fraught. It becomes clear that the formidable, almost malevolent, Mrs Payne covets Miss Beringer’s sole possession of value, a piece of amber given to her by a friend who has moved to India. Written in 1935 by Rodney Ackland and adapted from Hugh Walpole’s earlier novel, the play is a slender Gothic thriller that faintly echoes the macabre sensibilities of a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. The narrative itself is insubstantial, and the piece relies heavily on atmosphere and sharply etched characterisation. In both respects, this production proves strikingly effective. Juliette Demoulin’s set design conjures a vivid sense of shabby, faintly sinister decay, while Carla Joy Evans’s costumes are impeccably judged, ranging from the frayed gentility of Mrs Amorest and the unobtrusive simplicity of Miss Beringer to the brooding flamboyance of the redoubtable Mrs Payne. Catherine Cusack is excellent as the fragile newcomer with a weak heart. The audience hovers between sympathy for the bullying she endures and frustration at her apparent inability to defend herself. When she does briefly find her resolve, the sense of collective relief is unmistakable. Opposite her, Abigail Thaw gives a performance that at times recalls the malevolent theatricality of the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. Her portrayal is an unrelenting display of meanness from the outset. A touch more nuance might have deepened the role, yet it is difficult not to relish the over-the-top spitefulness tinged with a hint of the occult. Perhaps the most demanding role is that of the comparatively colourless Mrs Amorest, who must serve as both a stabilising presence and dramatic counterweight to these extremes of victimhood and villainy. Julia Watson judges it perfectly, creating a wholly credible figure who functions as a subtle surrogate for the audience as it is drawn into this heightened, melodramatic world. More complex ideas flicker at the edges of the narrative, including the amorality that may spring from an obsessive pursuit of beauty and the psychological fragility born of thwarted relationships and unrealised dreams. However, these themes remain largely unexplored. The play’s true ambition is more modest: to offer a shiver of unease, a fleeting glimpse into the darker recesses of human behaviour. On those terms, The Old Ladies succeeds with crisp assurance, delivering a taut and atmospherically satisfying theatrical experience.
Rated: ★★★★
Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Carla Joy Evans
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