Elaine Beale, Merrily Powell and Tina Duffin star in The Cemetery Club
There is something about New York Jewish humour which hits the spot. It is
dry, succinct and pertinent.
It is the hallmark of Neil Simon's plays and the same qualities are there in
abundance in Ivan Menchell's warm and poignant play centred on three New
York widows.
The one-liners are to die for.
Ida, Lucille and Doris have been friends for years and now that their husbands
have died within a few years of one another, the women take comfort from
their friendship and make a ritual monthly visit to the cemetery to talk to
their late spouses.
The play is about how different people deal with grief, whether they hang on
to the past, live with their memories, or chose a time to move forward and
forge new relationships.
Elaine Beale is the feisty Lucille, whose marriage to Harry was clearly not
a bed of roses. Hers is a powerful portrayal of a complex personality. She's
funny, sceptical, worldly-wise and ultimately touchingly vulnerable.
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Merrily Powell revealed Ida as a gentler personality, but like Lucille ready
to throw off the widow's weeds and move back into the mainstream of life -
another perceptive performance.
The Cemetery Club, By Ivan Menchell
The Wharf Theatre Devizes
Tina Duffin was Doris, still very much in mourning for her beloved Abe and
slightly shocked by the readiness of Lucille, in particular, to abandon the
monthly cemetery ritual. She gives us a very sympathetic character.
Elaine Beale, Merrily Powell and Tina Duffin star in The Cemetery Club
Then along comes Sam (Lewis Cowen) a local butcher, who visits the cemetery
to tend his wife's grave. He is known to them all and while Lucille flirts
outrageously, it is Ida who catches Sam's eye. Mr Cowen brings his customary
professional polish to his role.
Sam's arrival on the scene changes the dynamic of the friendship, and the
grieving process, with dramatic results.
Beryl Baggs plays Mildred, who impedes the progress of true romance.
Apart from a bit of a struggle all round with the New York accent, it is a
crisp production of a delightful play, which runs at the Wharf until
Saturday.
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