Tag Archives: Tim Churchill

DOUBTING THOMAS

★★★½

Theatre Royal Windsor

DOUBTING THOMAS

Theatre Royal Windsor

★★★½

“a poignant exploration of memory’s erosion and the human connections left in its wake”

At first glance you might think that the Theatre Royal Windsor’s world premiere of Doubting Thomas, a new play written by husband and wife team (and Writers in Residence) Catherine O’Reilly and Tim Churchill, is a ‘Whodunnit’ set in a care home. This is not the case. The play deals with the far more devastating scenario of a family who have had to make the painful decision to move their beloved husband and father Thomas, following a diagnosis of dementia, into a nursing home. When Thomas is found crouching over the dead body of one of his carers, being the only suspect a case against him swiftly goes to court.

I found this a fascinating angle for a play, a dementia patient with no memory and no ‘voice’ therefore unable to defend himself – a classic unreasonable doubt scenario played against the backdrop of the emotional fallout on his family and exactly what they will do to defend him.

Dementia has become an increasingly prominent and powerful subject not only in society but in contemporary theatre and film. This production manages to use it, under the solid direction of Charlotte Peters, to explore the sensitive themes of memory, identity, family dynamics, ageing and loss. Felicity Dean whose strong yet subtle portrayal of the central character Jane Noble holds the play together, whilst the various members of her family, her histrionic elder daughter Sara played by Claire Marlow, her grandson Ben a very assured and believable portrayal by Louis Holland and her younger daughter Anna, excellently played by Eva O’Hara, all have various skeletons in the closet.

The staging is quite intimate and together with the stereotypically middle class set, helps evoke a sense of claustrophobia as the family tensions play out. The writing almost feels like a screenplay at times, cleverly switching from one scene outside to another inside, with effective use of lighting by Will Brann. As the characters and plot develop even more tangents in the second act, it seems that the writing is mirroring the mind’s disintegration and cognitive decline by having so many different threads.

Doubting Thomas in its honesty, confronts the painful realities of dementia, sudden loss and what it means to care. It offers a poignant exploration of memory’s erosion and the human connections left in its wake. It is wonderful to see a new, modern play that actually recognises the humanity in those society often overlooks.



DOUBTING THOMAS

Theatre Royal Windsor

Reviewed on 4th June 2025

by Sarah Milton

Photography by Jack Merriman

 


 

 

Last tens shows reviewed at this venue:

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD | ★★ | March 2025
PRIDE & PREJUDICE (SORT OF) | ★★★ | February 2025
BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF | ★★★★ | January 2025
FILUMENA | ★★★★ | October 2024
THE GATES OF KYIV | ★★★★ | September 2024
ACCOLADE | ★★★½ | June 2024
OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR | ★★★★ | April 2024
CLOSURE | ★★★★ | February 2024
THE GREAT GATSBY | ★★★ | February 2024
ALONE TOGETHER | ★★★★ | August 2023

 

 

DOUBTING THOMAS

DOUBTING THOMAS

DOUBTING THOMAS

CLOSURE

★★★★

Theatre Royal Windsor

CLOSURE at the Theatre Royal Windsor

★★★★

“a witty, pacey and up-to-the-minute thriller”

Theatre Royal Windsor’s current offering is ‘Closure’ – a brand new thriller by experienced writing duo Catherine O’Reilly and Tim Churchill. They were given enthusiastic support in developing this fast-moving premier by the late Bill Kenwright, the renowned producer whose company owns and operates the theatre.

Family tensions run very high indeed in the first half of the evening as normality unravels like it is going very rapidly out of fashion. Josh and Emma Carlisle (Joseph Thompson and Roxanne McKee) are holding a dinner party at their impressive new country home (set design un-credited) to which they have invited their extended family. Their guests include Susan Penhaligon as Libby Kennedy, a rather splendidly dipsomaniac matriarch with more than a passing infatuation for several bottles of Merlot. Just what is it with all the conspicuous consumption of booze in plays like this? She is partnered by another equally experienced actor (and sometime Blue Peter presenter) Peter Duncan. He plays an ex-cop of what turn out to be rather dubious morals.

 

 

Hollyoaks’ Jemma Donovan and Christopher Jeffers make impressive entrances as the couple’s younger daughter Becca and her new boyfriend Alex – both of them rather splendid Love Island wannabes (costumes Hilary Bloomfield).

Director Charlotte Peters ably turns the theatrical spotlight on each of these flawed characters in turn. What happens when good people do bad things? When the pressure mounts, what cracks will appear? And when bad turns to worse, can we the audience guess just what these increasingly manic characters will do next? As well as all this edge-of-the-seat action, there are some daft comedic twists which mean that the dramatic tension is reliably interspersed with laughter. The cast list is competed by Marcus Adolphy who plays a senior police officer with a talent for turning up just when he is least wanted.

‘Closure’ takes a few heavy-handed pot shots at the Insta generation, with lighting effects designed by Douglas Kuhrt. A darker story about trauma and grief underpins the plot, but this is not the kind of play which holds these weighty themes up to serious examination. ‘Closure’ is not conceived as a traditional murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie’s ‘Mousetrap’ and other such theatrical workhorses. It is most certainly a witty, pacey and up-to-the-minute thriller which at tonight’s packed performance did not fail to disappoint its enthusiastic audience.


CLOSURE at the Theatre Royal Windsor

Reviewed on 28th February 2024

by David Woodward

Photography by Jack Merriman

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE GREAT GATSBY | ★★★ | February 2024
ALONE TOGETHER | ★★★★ | August 2023
BLOOD BROTHERS | ★★★★★ | January 2022
THE CHERRY ORCHARD | ★★★★ | October 2021

CLOSURE

CLOSURE

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