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High anxiety: Collapse - Riverside Studios

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It’s a brave or maybe slightly provocative production to use Hammersmith Bridge on their artwork for a show called Collapse, which is about how everything collapses—poorly maintained bridges, relationships, and jobs. Nothing works. That’s probably too close to home for Hammersmith residents stuck with a magnificently listed and useless bridge on their front door. It gets even weirder when you realise the piece is staged in what looks like a meeting room with a bar. However, keeping things together in the most unlikely of circumstances is at the heart of Allison Moore's witty and engaging four-hander, which is currently having a limited engagement at Riverside Studios . The piece opens with Hannah (Emma Haines) about to get an injection from her husband (Keenan Heinzelmann). They’re struggling for a baby, and he’s struggling to get out of bed. But he managed to give her a shot of hormones before she started worrying about the rest of the day. She’s unsure she will keep her job with ...

Jam: Just To Get Married @Finborough


What's exciting about watching Cicely Hamilton's Just To Get Married is how it captures the spirit of a changing world. The piece is having its first London production in over 100 years at the Finborough Theatre.

It's lost none of its bite with its central argument that women are forced into marriage for their own survival. It's the only way they are judged as a success and they don't get the same opportunities as men.

It also captures life in Edwardian England where there was a fine line between living comfortably and just about managing. Here there is no safety net. No pensions. And if you're a woman, no right to vote either. Today, while some of the attitudes and priorities may have changed, some of the values may still seem familiar...


Hamilton presents us with Georgiana (Philippa Quinn). At 29 she's unmarried and living with her aunt and relatives. She feels she's a burden on everyone. And so when Adam (Jonny McPherson) arrives on the scene, everyone sees it as an opportunity to secure her future. The only problem is that he is very shy and she has no love for him. But surely that should not matter? Or should it?

The piece starts off as a light comedy as the attempts to get Adam to propose come to various awkward moments. But when Georgiana has second thoughts about the wedding given her ambivalence to Adam, things take a different turn.

Quinn is perfect as Georgiana. Sharp and witty, she recognises her limitations and is frustrated with her inability to go out on her own. McPherson as the shy Adam, captures his initial nervousness and transition to a man infatuated.


The rest of the cast serve the material well too. It's a smart looking production designed by Katharine Davies Herbst. Lottie Smith's costumes underscore Georgiana's attempts to pull out all the stops to get Adam's attention, particularly with that dress in the first act which seems to have the right mix of Edwardian glamour and desperation.

Even if the piece concludes a little too neatly, it remains both provocative and a delight to watch.

Directed by Melissa Dunne, Just To Get Married is at the Finborough Theatre until 19 August.

👰👰👰👰

Photos by Tonje Olaussen

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