Robert Tanitch reviews The March to Russia at Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, Surrey
David Storey (1933-2017), playwright, poet and novelist, died in March. He is probably best known today for his novel, The Sporting Life, which was turned into a film and directed by Lindsay Anderson Richard Harris and Rachel Roberts starred.
Sarah Belcher and Sue Wallace in The March on Russia
Storey will also be remembered by theatregoers for two plays in particular: The Changing Room and Home. The latter was memorably acted by John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson who played two old men so convincingly that many people thought the actors really were gaga
The March to Russia premiered at the National Theatre in 1989 and is set in that year. The timely and highly welcome revival is directed by Alice Hamilton.
Mr and Mrs Pasmore live in a bungalow in Yorkshire in and are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary when their three middle-aged children unexpectedly turn-up.
Pasmore left school at 11 and worked down the mines until he was 65. The play feels very autobiographical and even more if you know that David Storey’s father was a miner and was given a bungalow by his son.
The Pasmores belong to a generation for whom marriage meant sticking it out together through thick and thin because that was what you did in those days.
They constantly wind each other up. The bickering and recriminations are very funny and there are lots of laughs; but such is the truth of the writing and the acting, the laughter does not rob the drama of its deep sadness in any way. If anything, it adds to the poignancy.
The Richmond audience on the night I went was in the same age bracket as the characters on the stage and you knew from their reaction that they were identifying totally with them
It would be difficult to fault the acting of Ian Gelder and especially Sue Wallace, who is perfect.
The three middle-aged children, better educated and better off than their parents, live and work far away and have been neglectful of them. I suspect many people are going to feel guilty on leaving the theatre and will be making phone calls and arranging long overdue visits.
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