Published: 09 September 2010
by JOSH LOEB

HOW would you like to go singing into the sunset surrounded by witty raconteurs and warmed by the glory of bygone days and lashings of whisky and hot cocoa?

Noël Coward’s portrayal of life in The Wings, a fictional charity home for retired actresses, makes taking the final bow seem like great fun.

Death’s waiting room this old age home is not; many a glamorous former lady of the stage is here – including Lotta Bainbridge (Juliet Aykroyd) and May Davenport (Frances Cuka), at daggers drawn over a man.

Lotta “stole” May’s husband many moons ago and May is bitter. 

Sarita Myrtle (the excellent Maggie McCourt) is losing her marbles and nonogenarian Martha has a “young” beau  (in his 70s). Into this mix creeps Zelda Fenwick (Penelope Dudley), a hack sniffing for colour for a feature about life in The Wings. The play, first performed in 1960, is fluffy and sentimental but asks questions about the struggle to maintain dignity in old age.

What makes this 50th anniversary production stand out is the quality of the players and the sense that they are all having fun. 

As one observer of the London fringe remarked, half the north London branch of Equity is in this. Their chemistry, combined with the intimacy of the venue, means you can’t help but love them.

Hampstead resident Cuka is one of the stars. She is a versatile actress who famously created the role of Jo in Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey and who played Lady Bracknell earlier this year in a production of The Importance of Being Earnest at Highgate’s Upstairs at the Gatehouse. 

The production is directed by Aline Waites, who has been involved in almost every aspect of the Camden theatre scene over the years, including running a pub theatre and acting as an artistic advisor to the Giant Olive theatre company in Kentish Town.

As she notes in the programme: “There are few roles for actresses over the age of 50, and to have nine characters of pensionable age in one play is a rare miracle.”

I suppose the oldies are still the best.

Until September 18 • 020 7435 3648