Waiting in the Wings

A large, comfortable charity home in 1960 England named The Wings houses retired actresses.  Of its nine present residents, all but one know of an impending addition to their number, the actress Lotta Bainbridge.  The resident in the dark, May Davenport, has refused for the past 30 years to speak with Lotta, and everybody else is afraid of her reaction — which is understandably worse than it might have been when May finally realises that Lotta is soon to arrive May has been kept in the dark.

Not Coward’s wittiest play, Waiting in the Wings nonetheless offers, among a few surprises and a little suspense, the development of these women’s relationships with one another and with The Wings’s staff in many amusing and sometimes very funny moments that highlight the acerbic arguments over and illuminating discussions of the past, one another, the facility’s governing board, and the vexations of ageing, as well as more passing matters, including farewells, reacquaintance, and the solarium that the board has put the kibosh on.

Though he attributes the consistently fine acting to the experience of the players, director Stephen Pike has excelled himself in making of this play an enlightening entertainment suitable for younger as well as older adults: the accents and postures were as natural as can be; timing was impeccable; and, above all, the interactions, both sympathetic and hostile, were convincing.  The set, representing the home’s lounge, stairs, and landing, was utterly believable, as were costumes, props, and sound effects.  All in all, it was a very easy play to become engaged in.

REP’s Waiting in the Wings will make at once a fine outing and a basis for greater understanding between two or more generations.

John P. Harvey

Image: (L–R) Nikki-Lynne Hunter, Rina Onorato, and Ros Engledow, in Waiting in the Wings.  Photographer: John P. Harvey.