Ladies of Letters
This theatrical reinvention of 'LOL' certainly had me 'Laughing Out Loud' from start to finish"
Craig Fuller
Jonathan Harvey's stage adaptation of Ladies of Letters was delivered to Norwich Theatre Royal this week, the final address on a Spring and Summer tour that has seen corresponding comrades Vera Small and Irene Spencer sharing their exchange of news, gossip and adventures with audiences from Perth to Truro.
Listeners to BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour will be familiar with the long-running friendship between retired medical receptionist Vera and ex-librarian Irene, and how they first met underneath a table at a wedding reception. They will have followed their exploits and adventures in suburban England as they attempt to keep up appearances whilst their family lives disentangle around them. It is their hand-written recipes for flapjacks and shared news of respective pets and family members that appears to keep the momentum of this pen-pal relationship alive. Despite being unable to resist putting each other down with their sarcastic barbs, the shared confidences and experiences of these two sixty-something ladies are turned into pure comedy gold.
Now, with a brilliantly funny and contemporary adaptation by Joanthan Harvey, and with direction from Joanna Read, the characters created by Carole Haymn and Lou Wakefield are brought to life right in front of us on an innovatively-lit split stage designed around two huge envelopes and a backdrop of postage stamps.
The absolute stars of this performance are Gwyneth Strong as Vera and Tessa Peake-Jones as Irene. Each is an iconic actor and comedy legend, best known perhaps for their long-running roles in Only Fools and Horses as Cassandra and Raquel. The pair are reunited on stage for the first time in thirty years, yet the chemistry between them in Ladies of Letters remains powerful and palpable, even though their contact on stage is restricted entirely to their reading of letters to each other. As lights are dimmed on one half of the stage, the letters are read out aloud on the other. The lighting is then reversed for the replies. Via this illuminated pen-pal dialogue a plot unfolds that also offers an hilarious insight into each characters' struggle to maintain appearances whilst surviving alone in a rapidly changing world. Only the reassuring solace of pen and paper seems to keep them anchored to the lives they know and understand.
There are some neat touches – concealed trapdoors in the floor allow props to be retrieved for certain scenes, and a giant ironing board descends for one side-by-side sequence. A bouquet of flowers sent by Irene is delivered to Vera by being dropped with incredible precision directly onto her kitchen worktop. The malapropisms in the dialogue are priceless – 'you shouldn't drink raw ewe's milk – you can catch listerine from that' is just one example that had me chuckling out loud. And the script is brought right up to date with its fresh and warming conclusion. You will have to come and see the show to find out what it is, but let's just say it involves a rainbow.
Ladies of Letters is a magical melancholic melodrama with an endearing pathos, delivered by two consummate actors that have captured the passive-aggressive antics of these two feisty frenemies with a fondness and accuracy that is totally captivating. This theatrical reinvention of 'LOL' certainly had me 'Laughing Out Loud' from start to finish.
