And No More Shall We Part review, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs

Imprudence and the pill

The opening scene of And No More Shall We Part is a bit of a give-away. Pam's on her deathbed having taken euthanasia pills... At her side, Don is in the armchair, grunting. His grey cardigan hangs off him like its been through a wringer. As his wife prattles away he is woefully distracted. She conjures warm, gentle, silly stories of family holidays that he can't recollect. He's not even kind enough to lie. In the end she packs him off to his own bed and prepares to die alone.

It's fair to say that it doesn't get any sadder or more intense, but the tension doesn't lessen either.  This is an update on Whose Life Is It Anyway, looking at the role of the family in making choices. As Don leaves Pam to die, the revolve stage at Hampstead Downstairs spins us back in time to the start of the debate.   

What's interesting about Tom Holloway's play is that the relationship between Don and Pam is in itself a story and sometimes more interesting than the well rehearsed ethical arguments around euthanasia. Our impressions of the couple in the opening scene are challenged as it becomes clear that Don has been finessed throughout by the dogged and uncompromising Pam so that even in her final hours she has turned his expectations on their heads. 

In conclusion:  There are times during the play when one longs for respite, but Bill Paterson is wonderful as disarmed Don and Dearbhla Molloy conveys the contradictions of a person whose disease drives them.  

References
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Hampstead Theatre is on Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London NW3 3EU. This production is now over.