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# REVIEW: Quartet @Theatre Royal
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/review-quartet-theatre-royal/
- Published: 2018-03-27T18:04:15.000Z
- Updated: 2018-03-27T18:04:15.000Z
- Description: What do retired opera stars do in the twilight of their years? They move in together to a retirement home and bitch, reminisce and dream of what might have been. So we find a trio of almost-great singers planning their contribution to Joe Green ‘s birthday celebrations – Joe to you and me better kno
- Author: Brian Butler

## What do retired opera stars do in the twilight of their years? They move in together to a retirement home and bitch, reminisce and dream of what might have been.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web-600-1-12.jpg)

**So we find a trio** of almost-great singers planning their contribution to Joe Green ‘s birthday celebrations – Joe to you and me better known as Guiseppe Verdi.

But in **Ronald Harwood’s** play Quartet, their inner peace and serenity are soon shattered by a new arrival – an “opera Great” in the form of **Jean Horton**. Problem is she was much married and one of her ex husbands is in the aforementioned trio of residents.

**Paul Nicholas** plays the sprightly but sex-obsessed Wilfred with malevolent delight and he has some wonderful but unrepeatable one-liners. **Jeff Rawle** as the new arrival’s ex is fastidious, highly intelligent and as it turns out the only one of the 4 paying his own way at the home – the others being there on charity.

**Wendi Peters** is a weight-obsessed scatty star on the verge of dementia and she plays Cecily like a cross between Mrs Bucket and Margaret Rutherford with hilarious comic timing.

**Sue Holderness** as Jean is at once arrogant and proud and she like all the others has a terrible secret to reveal. Why did she retire at the height of her career in her 30s – almost 40 years ago ?

In amongst their heart-rending foibles and fascinating past, Harwood also explores the nature of art and performance – much as he did in his play *The Dresser* and he’s clearly fascinated by the paraphernalia of costume, and make-up.

The four characters have a unifying motto – nsp – no self pity – but the dialogue betrays this and it is only when they are finally unified to recreate their famous performance of the quartet from *Rigoletto* that we see the optimism which is possible even in old age.

In the closing half-hour of the play each character in turn bares their soul and confesses – and we love them for it. The climax of the evening is truly stunning.

Harwood even gets laughter out of the symptoms of dementia – constant repetition, which cleverly we see is the basis of many opera lyrics – as one character says: *“we repeat ourselves all the time; all the time we repeat ourselves.”*

Though they were all *“somebody”* once, the concert reaffirms their existence and their determination to make the most of the limited rest of their lives. It’s a great hymn – or rather aria – to life itself.

Quartet runs at the Theatre Royal, Brighton until Saturday, March 30.

Review by Brian Butler

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web-600-72.jpg)