REVIEW: THE ANNIVERSARY @ THE QUESTORS THEATRE

🎭 The Anniversary

📍 The Studio, The Questors Theatre, 12 Mattock Lane, Ealing, London, W5 5BQ

🗓 Thursday 23rd January 2025

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Meet the mother-in-law from hell at The Questors Theatre in London where they are currently presenting a production of Bill Macllwraith's THE ANNIVERSARY. Set and first performed in the mid 1960s, THE ANNIVERSARY follows a domineering mother, her three sons, and their families.

Dad died a few years ago but Mum still likes to observe their anniversary every year and it seems as though the family are summoned to celebrate the occasion. What Mum wants, Mum gets. The dysfunctional relationship between parent and children sees the grown men almost fearful of their mother, and they each have a secret too.

Tom arrives to introduce Shirley - his pregnant fiancée he's invited to stay for the weekend. But it is true love or is he just trying to get one up on his Mum? Terry and wife Karen have a bombshell of their own to drop. They're taking their 5 children and emigrating to Canada, escaping the clutches of the domineering matriarch. Oldest son Henry has an open secret which has him labelled  a pervert by some of the family.

The set design by Mobolaji Babalola was very good, and you instantly knew which decade you were in as soon as you entered the auditorium. Similarly the costuming was authentic to the period, and I was especially impressed with Karen whose dress, wig and make-up made her seem as if she had been plucked straight from the 1960s and put on the stage!

Karen was my absolute favourite character and Sherralyn was iconic in the role. I adored her sass and the way she delivered her lines was both biting and hilarious in equal measures. After years of battling with her torturous mother-in-law Karen certainly holds her own and gives as good as she gets.

Although new to the family Shirley quickly learns how to stand up for herself and the role is acted sublimely by Caitlyn Vary who really embodied all the nuances of the character, and it was great to see her development as the events unfolded.

The role of the controlling matriarch was acted well by Despina Sellar, with Mum seeming to revel in stirring the pot and manipulating situations so she gets her desired outcomes. I would have liked her to have been more cutting and passive aggressive with her delivery of some of the lines but I expect that this was a creative decision.

The male actors were also good in their roles but it has to be said that the females eclipsed them in this production.

The main reason for my three stars here is that the play itself felt quite dated. It is almost 60 years old and is of its time, but it felt as if it was too long and there were times where it felt a little flat and bordered on boring. To be clear though this was to do with the text, not the performances. I felt like there would be a big ending but it almost felt quite abrupt at its conclusion.

THE ANNIVERSARY has its final performance tonight at The Questors Theatre which is sold out but click here to find out about upcoming productions from this theatre company which I'm sure are one to watch.

Neill Kovacic-Clarke

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one person.

My ticket for this performance of The Anniversary was gifted by The Questors Theatre who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.

CAST LIST:

Ed Clements as Tom; Caitlyn Vary as Shirley; Craig Nightingale as Henry; Mike Hadjipateras as Terry; Sherralyn as Karen; Despina Sellar as Mum

RUNNING TIME (approx):

2 hours 25 minutes, including 2 intervals

CONTENT WARNINGS:

Occasional bad language; Themes of miscarriage