Ovation Archives - thespyinthestalls.com

★★★

“has potential to be hilarious if it goes further into exploiting the ridiculousness of the situation and characters”

Four Women and a Funeral, a new play by Jennifer Selway is a grounded comedy set in Restmore Funeral Home, celebrating the life of Reuben Roffe. Unfortunately, the only people who have turned up for the ceremony are ‘The Widow’ (Donna Combe), ‘The Mistress’ (Eliza McClelland), ‘The Guest’ (Leda Hodgson) and ‘The Celebrant’ (Victoria Jeffrey).

The play introduces us to the premise straight away, introducing the Widow and Celebrant well. We learn of the Widow and Reuben’s relationship to be tricky at times but overall loving, with the Widow consistently praising her dead husband’s work as a writer. Little is established about the Widow’s life outside of her husband’s at this stage, which is a detail that gets missed generally throughout the play. The show’s central plot is centred around the dead husband, and how each character’s lives related to him at some point. A man in whom we discover throughout the show, wasn’t the nicest or most honest to have lived, so the drama in which surrounded him felt slightly unfavourable.

A lot, however, is revealed about the Celebrant early on, information that will later unveil a rather large plot twist. The Guest is also introduced as a colleague of the deceased, but it’s quickly revealed that she is instead an FBI agent and the play transforms from a Farcical sit-com to a witty whodunnit. Leda Hodgson shines in this role, playing the special agent with deep focus and precision, contrasting well to her undercover escapades as the bubbly ex-colleague.

It felt at points that the style of the show was confused. The pacing and comedy of the show felt like an English Countryside farce, yet the play is set in America with the cast speaking in New York-like accents. This resulted in a pace that felt like it was falling behind itself. A more concise script could help with this, to make the action be snappier and move the story quicker.

The show does succeed in representing older women in roles and conversations that often go unrepresented on stage and screen. The women openly talk about sexual topics and there’s even a little woman loving woman representation thrown in there. However there were also moments where this felt at odds with itself; characters talking down about younger women for being young and speaking bad about each other for loving the same mediocre man. While the group – at a certain stage – shares a solidarity from both loving and being hard done by this man, I feel that message of female unity gets confused.

The play has potential to be hilarious if it goes further into exploiting the ridiculousness of the situation and characters. Eliza McClelland performs brilliantly as the mistress, enriching her performance with the melodrama that I think this play requires. With more rehearsal and a tightening of the script, this could be achieved throughout. There were several moments of laughter throughout the show, just too much time between each one.

Forever Plaid

Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Reviewed – 3rd June 2021

★★★★

“their sheer professionalism shines through each and every musical number”

Once upon a time, back in 1964, a semi-professional harmony group was on its way to its first big gig. While driving in a cherry-red convertible, the group was rehearsing their finale; ‘Love Is a Many Splendored Thing’. They were just getting to their favourite E flat diminished seventh chord when their car collided with a bus full of eager teenagers on their way to watch the Beatles make their U.S. television debut on the Ed Sullivan show. The kids in the bus miraculously escaped uninjured. The harmony, group, however, was killed instantly.

Fast forward to the present. The young guys are still in limbo – as unresolved as their final chord – but they find themselves back on earth for a chance to recreate the concert they never got to perform. It’s a simple set up: the four singers emerge, dressed in white tuxedos, slightly bewildered. Stuart Ross’s tongue in cheek book is updated for the Covid generation by John Plews; with a reference to the audience wearing masks. “Are we in a theatre or an operating theatre?”. But the soul of the piece remains intact. With its light humour, combined with stunning vocal virtuosity, this is a gorgeous antidote to today’s cynicism and cheap send ups. It is a heartfelt homage to an often forgotten but vital period in the history of American popular music.

“Forever Plaid” was the first musical that opened Upstairs at the Gatehouse in 1999, so it is fitting that it should be the first to herald its reopening after the pandemic. Cameron Burt, George Crawford, Christopher Short and Alexander Zane are, respectively, Frankie, Jinx, Smudge and Sparky, who lead us through a celebration of bands such as The Four Aces, The Four Freshmen and The Crew Cuts. Not instantly recognisable names, but the songs are instantly familiar. The musical performance is reminiscent of old variety shows that brought the whole family together around the television set. It is not character driven, but the cast have real personality as they reminisce about the past and try to make sense of the present. They are each portraying amateurs in their craft, but their sheer professionalism shines through each and every musical number.

The songs include ‘Catch a Falling Star’, ‘Cry’, ‘Three Coins in a Fountain’. ‘Heart and Soul’ and many others. The revue is a subtle spectacle, celebrating the flip side of the fifties which has become overshadowed by Rock n’ Roll, Elvis and the Beatles. The comedy is not restricted to the repartee between the songs. There is a wonderful moment when they take on the Beatles’ ‘She Loves You’, tightening the harmonies and singing ‘She Loves You Yes Siree”. There is a Calypso sequence, and a fabulous version of ‘Lady of Spain’ while they mime and juggle and impersonate bygone celebrities.

You don’t need to be an aficionado of the genre to appreciate ‘Forever Plaid’. It obviously helps, but what can’t be helped is the spell that is cast. Each note, sung and spoken is spot on. With musical director Ian Oakley on keys and Jess Martin on double bass, we have a real sense of the warmth and emotional tug of nostalgia. They sing ‘Love is a Many Splendored Thing’ to close the show – the number the fictitious quartet were rehearsing before they died. They marvel at this dreamlike chance to have a second chance. “Can we pick off where we left off?” they ask. They answer their own question; “Why not? We came back once, we can do it again… A perfect chord. One perfect moment. That’s all anyone has the right to ask for”.

FOUR WOMEN AND A FUNERAL

Upstairs at the Gatehouse

★★★

“has potential to be hilarious if it goes further into exploiting the ridiculousness of the situation and characters”

FOUR WOMEN AND A FUNERAL

Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Reviewed on 15th August 2025

by David Robinson

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

FOUR WOMEN AND A FUNERAL

FOUR WOMEN AND A FUNERAL

FOUR WOMEN AND A FUNERAL

Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Reviewed – 3rd June 2021

★★★★

“their sheer professionalism shines through each and every musical number”

This isn’t the first time that “Forever Plaid” has run at Upstairs at the Gatehouse. And let’s hope it’s not the last.

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Darren Bell

Forever Plaid

Upstairs at the Gatehouse until 27th June

Other shows reviewed by Jonathan this year

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