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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...

Fried chicken runs: Cuckoo @sohotheatre

Everyone hates Iona. She talks too much. Her only friend is non-binary mate Pingu who doesn’t speak at all. So they decide to get the hell out of Crumlin on the next Ryanair flight. Afterall it is the part of Northern Ireland that has the Airport. But their decision to leave makes them a bit of a celebrity.

Despite the enthusiastic cast, Lisa Carroll’s play Cuckoo doesn’t cover much. It’s currently playing at the Soho Theatre. It’s your typical young person wanting to break out of shitty town story. If you’re unfamiliar with Crumlin in Northern Ireland, you can only assume it’s pretty grim. Much of the action centres around a place called Texas Fried Chicken.

We don’t get to know the characters well. As they fight and film each other for instagram stories they become less and less interesting.

I was hoping at one point we would understand why the two central characters were friends. But in this ninety minute play dragged out to nearly two hours, we get one fight or dance routine after another. Someone swears, drinks cheap beer from a can and we move on to the next scene.

The production isn’t helped by a curious decision to stage the production in the traverse. If you’re sitting on the wrong side kills one of the more comic moments when Iona is trying to arouse the local lad.

Still the cast work best with what they’ve got. Caitriona Ennis has great comic timing as the talkative and eccentric Iona. Towards the end she declares she wears Crocs because she wanted to wear them. It comes across as a declaration of a person in search of the creature comforts of normal life.

Directed by Debbie Hannan, Cuckoo is at the Soho Theatre upstairs until 8 December.

⭐️⭐️⭐️


Photos by David Gill

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