Writer: Ronald Harwood

Director: Joe Harmston

Reviewer: Maggie Constable

The Public Reviews Rating:

Ronald Harwood, Oscar and Academy award-winning playwright of The Dresser and screen writer for The Pianist film, is the writer of Quartet playing at Milton Keynes this week. It is a story of self-discovery, of ageing and loss of ability, and of life-long friendships. The play centres on retired opera singers Cissy, Reggie and Wilfred who are delighted at the prospect of performing in a concert to celebrate Verdi’s birthday in October until their serenely routine, if offbeat and forgetful, world is disturbed by the surprise newcomer to the home. None other than the legend and diva that is Jean Horton, who also happens to be Reggie’s ex wife!. As former rivalries come to the surface and old secrets come to light too, can these four players work together to a common end and forget the past? With Jean’s arrival it’s clear she should be included in the concert and tha the four should perform the quartet in Rigoletto with Jean (Susannah York) as Gilda. She hasn’t sung it for years — in fact she retired early — and will not ‘play ball’. No way will she perform, but Reggie (Michael Jayston) believes he can persuade her, and after some coersion and clever tactics off-stage the costumes arrive and she seems to be in agreement. Who will accompany them and take them through their paces? Who knows, but all four are seemingly very confident about the end result.

Ronald Harwood is a renowned master of story-telling, and here he has combined his art with some dazzling wit, to create a “sweet and sour” comedy that is at times poignant and at others very funny. A gem of a cast includes Michael Jayston, the acclaimed Timothy West (The Winslow Boy, The Old Country), Susannah York (Gold, A Man For All Seasons), and Gwen Taylor (Prick Up Your Ears in the West End and star of Heartbeat on TV)

Harwood creates a world of retirement homeliness where the audience truly believes that ‘maturer’ artistes can come for their later years; there is in fact a real comparison: a home in my former locale , Twickenham, for members of the entertainment community

There are moments of real comedy in this play – Timothy West has most of the best lines, whining about his body’s inabilities and doctors’ uselessness while he still desires physical contact and has sexual urges – and Gwen Taylor’s wonderfully barmy Cissie has delightful and bittersweet moments , though she does seem to be a fair bit younger than her apparent contemporaries

Joe Harmston directed this fine production, in which Timothy West is brilliant as the ex-baritone, constantly giving everyone the benefits of his wisdom and lasciviously flirtatious towards Gwen Taylor’s Cissie. She, for her part, is often moving and very believable as the matronly, very thoughtful and a little dotty/slightly senile ex-contralto. Michael Jayston as Reggie Paget is credible as the sensible gentleman and reliably cautious ex-tenor who supports himself in the home and who oft likes to quote aphorisms. Lastly, we have Jean from the steely Susannah York, who is the awkward, insecure ex-soprano, who lives off her past successes but can still turn a head with her looks and her colourful, chic outfits.. For her it is hard to admit ones mistakes, but in her little conversations with Cissie we discover what went wrong with Jean’s first marriage to Reggie and begin to see the real person. Perhaps that admission allows her to accept fully her situation, to live life for the present, and to be at peace and a fully-functioning member of the quartet.

Ronald Harwood, when asked about his inspiration for this play, referred to a scribbled note which grew into a more fully formed piece: “home for old opera singers, end with the Quartet from Rigoletto.” It is these old opera singers which he presents his audience with, in all their faded glory and dotage. Though no one in this cast is under retirement age in real life, each performs with an energy that refutes their more mature years. Gwen Taylor’s Cissie is an ever-bustling “Mrs Tiggywinkle”-type presence, welcoming the return of friends from imagined Asian journeys or chasing after the beau gardener. Equally, Michael Jayston’s solid, dependable and sensitive Reggie, whose tirade on the shortcomings of apricot jam as opposed to lime marmalade is cleverly observed and played, is very impressive in his understated characterisation.. Susannah York appeared to underplay her role di troppo in the first half of Quartet and was a little fey, but after the interval her ‘Jean’ came to life and was much more 2- dimensional.( Indeed. the whole piece, which was a tad slow at times in the first half, really took off in the longer second part of the play.) However, it has to be said that the definite star of the play is Timothy West, whose Wilfred Bond, a brusque and smutty baritone, is constantly humming, expurgating or giggling at a cheap or letchy wisecrack; mainly directed at the sublimely unaware and naïve Cissie. His physical acting and stage presence are still a force with which to be reckoned..

The play is clever in its structure with the story opening on the current ‘quartet’ a voice short and awaiting their fourth; in fact, more poignantly, they are each waiting in life in a very real sense, as we are often reminded. Clearly many of the maturer members of the audience were able to relate to many such comments/one-liners referring to old age and infirmity.

The design and change of the set (design by Simon Scullion) were very effective and perfectly understated. The last scene, where the four perform, has a beautiful backdrop which is very sensitively lit (Lighting by Ben Cracknell) Costumes, by Hilary Bloomfield and Fred Broom, were totally apt and the opera garments beautiful and just right.

Altogether a thoroughly sound piece of theatre with solid performances and some superb wisecracks, beautifully delivered and which contrasted well with the ever-present poignancy.

Well worth the wait!

Runs until 31 July

Quartet - Milton Keynes Theatre, 4.0 out of 5 based on 2 ratings

Tags: Ben Cracknell, Fred Broom, Gwen Taylor, Hilary Bloomfield, Joe Harmston, Michael Jayston, Milton Keynes Theatre, Quartet, Rigoletto, Ronald Harwood, Simon Scullion, Susannah York, Timothy West