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The Vow - Theatre***
IT IS Arthur's birthday and he has just wet himself. It is not the best way to celebrate the passing of another year, but after 63 years of marriage and countless strokes, Arthur, his wife, Vi and their budgerigar, Bobby, are getting by as best they can. For lunch, they might even treat themselves to a tongue sandwich.
This is great theatre, and Rebecca Russell's play is honest and well-written, offering a blissfully simple insight into a loving couple's twighlight years. Actors Betty Rose (Vi) and Rosemary Goodman (the nurse) put in breezy, effortless performances and Alan Coates (Arthur) can rest assured that he is doing a better job of playing a stroke victim than Anthony Hopkins ever did in Legends of the Fall.
There are moments when the play is in danger of becoming nothing more than an over-sentimental elegy to the sanctity of marriage, but some well-paced humour and an inescapably weepy ending ensure that the characters maintain our sympathies throughout.
Matt Warren |
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