Moon River review, Pleasance Islington

Golden holdies

Seiriol Davies' drama, Moon River, doesn't always make sense, but perhaps that's the point. This poignant look at old age is not about babysitting grannies and bungee jumping nonagenarians, but the everyday grind of final years lived in the shadows. What does it feel like, how does it look and what does age do to once lively minds?

At the heart of the drama is a group of elderly in a care centre to which more sprightly outsiders come for weekly events. The characters form a haphazard collective of which the more stoic strive to make moments of joy for those who have misplaced their emotional lexicons. Anyone who has watched brilliant, beautiful, fast, capable loved ones decompose organically until they are approximations of their old selves, will see resonances throughout this piece.

What makes it work are those moments when an action or song takes the elderly back in time. Heads rise, backs straighten, voices rise and for a second we see the corn that once filled the husk. This is not so much a play as a well structured and honed sixty minute workshop piece, and the forgiving space at The Pleasance helps draw out the best while the small narrative disconnects are soon forgotten.

In conclusion: Our top-heavy population, blessed with post-sixties cultural capital, largely keeps our theatres alive. It's time their concerns around ageing were addressed. Moon River is a faltering but welcome step in that direction.

References
Pleasance Theatre, tickets