AMATEUR THEATRE REVIEW: A Month Of Sundays - The Garrick Theatre, Stockport.

A gentle comedy of old-age; 'A Month Of Sundays' by Bob Larbey, shows life in a nursing home with sharply observed prescience. It may be a little dated now (it is actually... one would not be able to get away with such behaviours and attitudes today), but as Cooper willingly decides to spend the rest of his life in this Surrey care home after the death of his wife, we see his relationship with the staff, his friendship with another resident, and the reason why he would rather stay here than live with his daughter and her family.

It's a slow-burner, and much of the onus of the success of this play falls with the actor who plays Cooper. His role is simply of Hamlet proportions, and since all the action revolves around him, he is never off stage either. Played here by David Meller, the character was given a very realistic gait, and his grumpy and cantankerous side played to the hilt. One did get the feeling that at times (especially in the first act) he was saying the lines without much thought or understanding for them; but when you consider just how many lines he actually did have to say, then some were bound perhaps to be lost in the melee. Meller proved to be a very sympathetic actor however, and his actions and reactions to those around him were natural and appropriate (to the contemporaneous time). 

The two staff members who attend to him on these two first Sundays in adjoining months are Nurse Wilson (Olivia Elliott), a young nurse who over her time caring for him has developed a fondness for him, and can see through his brusqueness. Their moments together were some of the most tender and real in the whole play. The second member of staff is cleaning lady Mrs. Baker, who seems to be besotted by him, and their banter serves as the comedic foil to the more real and heartfelt matters to come. Julie Anne Brown's interpretation, along with her sing-song Scottish brogue, made for the perfect up-tempo scenes to balance the play.

Cooper's daughter Julia (Sarah Field), and her husband Peter (Mark Field) made us think and rethink our own attitudes when visiting our relatives; finding every excuse in the book to arrive later and leave earlier every visit, and blame road works and traffic etc. I guess most of us are guilty of something similar if we are totally honest. 

However, it was Martin Steiger as Aylott which was, for this reviewer at least, the stand-out performance in this production. This was a thoroughly researched and totally whole study of an elderly man going through the early stages of dementia. In recent years I have lost both my parents to dementia, and was for several years, a carer to them both before they too had to go into residential care, and to watch the studied facial expressions and body language of Steiger was so life-like and real that it gave me goosebumps, and at the moment of 'cotton-wool', I was in tears.

Directed by Richard Humphry, the show had good pace, and a nice undulating dynamic was set. There were a couple of moments (especially during the scene changes) where the pace dipped a little too much, but overall, this dialogue-heavy serio-comedy with heart was excellently realised. The set looked authentic, although personally I think the room would have been carpeted. Lighting and sound worked well throughout.

It's been a long time since my last visit (pre-pandemic) to the Garrick in Stockport, and I am now looking forward to coming back for Bleak Expectations later this month. 

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 4.2.23