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Ruthless People: Ruthless - Arches Lane Theatre

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What is it about the Madoff’s that writers can’t resist writing about? Sure, it may have been the largest Ponzi scheme to collapse (so far), but there isn’t much more to explore. Or is there? In Ruthless by writer Roger Steinmann, Ruth Madoff is imagined as a wronged, gun-toting woman anchored in the past while trying to move on with her life. It’s not entirely successful but a fascinating look at life and wig choices, It’s currently playing at the theatre now known as the Arches Lane Theatre in Battersea. Ruth Madoff, played by Emily Swain, is here wearing a wig. I thought it was an odd look until I reviewed how closely it matched the photo of her interview in  The New York Times .  Typically, it’s the sort of wig you might see worn by Ladies on a night out in central London, not someone who once had over $80m in assets. With Bernie in Jail and both her sons now dead - one by suicide and one due to cancer, she is setting a table for the men who have left her. And ordering p...

Mad as duck: The Monkey @theatre503


A debt, a bad nickname and an obsession Reservoir Dogs come into focus in John Stanley's funny and dark play The Monkey at Theatre 503.

Stanley notes that he has distilled the four characters in the piece from the larger than life characters he has encountered. They bring to life the many traits of London's sub-culture of addiction and criminality. It's part of the Homecoming's season of new writing by prisoners and ex-prisoners. The stories are about getting out and going home.

But what is fascinating in this hilarious piece is how he has created a unique character in Terry. Terry (or Tel as his mates call him) has left Bermondsey and trying to leave his old past behind. But an old mate Thick-Al owes him money (or a monkey)  His mates think he has a bit of screw loose but also that he is a soft touch.




Morgan Watkins brings Tel to life as a crazy, edgy, addicted character with an obsession for 90s R-rated flicks. He paces the stage, adjusts his tie and moves awkwardly in his tight-fitting suit. He stares down the others. Exploding into rage. You're disturbed by him but you can't help liking him.  By the time the piece ends I wanted more. Maybe there are more stories to tell about him in a future book... Or a television series.

As the slob Thick-Al, George Whitehead is the comic buffoon of the piece. While Daniel Kendrick as Dal and Danielle Flett as Becks come across as the troubled yet loveable thieves who rob to feed their addictions.

The play is full of enough slang words to warrant its own glossary at the back of the programme. And no piece set on a south London council estate would be complete without endless rhyming slang to the point that it becomes it's own word play. Plusses become red busses and minuses become sinuses. For Stanley's first play with its constant hilarity and great performances it was all red buses to me.

Directed by Russell Bolam, The Monkey runs at Theatre 503 until 18 March.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎



Photos by Simon Annand

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