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There is some truly unforgivable stereotyping in this care home-set ‘comedy’ from Sandi Toksvig. And it’s not the older generation that suffers the worst of it. A young woman, Hope, is one of the most horribly ham-fisted interpretations of black ‘yoof’ you’re likely to see. The only other millennial character is a young man (played by Toksvig’s son Theo) who’s arrived to plunder the old ladies’ valuables after their Gravesend home is surrounded by rising flood water. Hmmm.
At 34, I’m not really the target audience for this watered down (pun intended) sitcom of a play. But I feel I should stick up for a generation Toksvig clearly feels is too busy taking selfies to notice anything as trivial as an apocalyptic flood. And the five older characters don’t fare too much better; there’s the token prude, the token rogue, the token northerner. The cliches keep on coming.
The premise is also deeply suspicious. The idea that five frail women would be abandoned to their fate in such a scenario is laughable. This government would sooner let a school sink than a retirement home. Plus, several of them have mobile phones - one of them even tweets - yet they can’t sound an effective SOS. And the dialogue is as rickety as the raft the women build to try and escape. Toksvig just can’t help herself with the one-liners, which have a roughly one in eight hit ratio. There are far more groans than grins.
The performances are likeable enough, especially from Maggie McCarthy as May, a sardonic lesbian whose sister June (Joanna Monro) is the epitome of suburban snobbery. Their bickering is the source of most of play’s better lines. And Sheila Reid gives an enjoyable turn as Gloria, a leopard print-clad 80-something longing for a final 'shag'. But I feel for Keziah Joseph, who as their bungling rescuer Hope is given little to do but spout street slang cliches and play with her selfie stick.
If it’s apocalyptic themes and well drawn older characters you’re after, see Caryl Churchill’s brilliant 'Escaped Alone' at the Royal Court. This one’s best left to the waves.