Review: Deeply moving scenes in clever and tender drama at Kenilworth theatre

Ida (Elaine Freeborn), Lucille (Lorna Spencer) and Doris (Elizabeth Brooks) are three Jewish ladies of a certain age. They are united in widowhood and divided by aspirations to love. Once a month they visit the cemetery where their husbands are buried.

Here they mourn, gossip, joke and keep each other company in their loneliness.

The three are united until one day Sam (David Draper), an eligible man of suitable age and a widower, joins them at the cemetery where he is visiting the grave of his wife. Love blossoms in this late flowering garden, but there are thorns among the roses. Friendships are tested and the affection that exists between the three women is bruised as jealousy rears its ugly head. Will their friendships survive the revelation of home truths and guarded secrets?

This clever, tender rendition of Ivan Menchell’s play is deeply moving at times. The three leads work together as a team, each pulling their weight. There were no outstanding performances until the end, when Lucille’s last soliloquy at the grave of her philandering husband brought tears to my eyes.

Perhaps the production could have done with a little more light and shade between the characters. But this is a great script full of sharp humour and one-liners delivered with affection, which had the audience laughing out loud and often.

The cast wisely avoid the risk of caricature by handling their New York Jewish accents with a light touch, and it is good to see the love life of older women taken seriously.

Nick Le Mesurier