Review: The Way Old Friends Do (Touring)

Wednesday 7th June 2023 at York Theatre Royal.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ian Hallard’s tribute to ABBA fandom takes shape as this warm tale of friendship and am-dram, directed by Mark Gatiss. The Way Old Friends Do sees two old school friends, Peter and Edward, reunite unexpectedly and circumstances conspire to inspire them to put on a gender-swapped ABBA tribute band.

As a man who wears his heart on one sleeve and his ABBA fandom on the other, Hallard’s Peter is a sincere character roped in for a foray into the performing arts. In contrast, James Bradshaw’s Edward is a big character and just a few shades shy of the Beverley Leslie/ Albin Mougeotte School of Camp, with much of the humour relying on his flair for a grandiose one liner. But there’s a welcome layer of heart to the character too – even if he is undeniably flawed in some of his life choices…

The pair are joined by a quirky combination of individuals brought together by necessity rather than merit of talent… There’s stage manager Sally (Donna Berlin) – a great friend to Peter in helping out, a charming sarcasmo, but forever a victim of Edward’s Foot-in-Mouth Syndrome. Mrs Campbell (Sara Crowe) is the mostly oblivious pianist roped in out of desperation but proving pretty good at being “a human shape at a piano” – and offering the odd surprising punchline to secure her comic value.

The very bubbly Jodie (Rose Shalloo) completes the line-up, and in her optimistic youthfulness, brings comical unsolicited ramblings to proceedings. If she doesn’t have the talent for the gig, she certainly has the gumption and the innocent determination for it. And an unexpected but lovely addition, cast-wise is the voice work of the lovely Paul O’Grady as the wise-cracking radio DJ and Miriam Margolyes through the phone as Peter’s adorable nan.

Janet Bird’s set shines (sometimes literally), making great use of a revolve to swiftly move us between scenes and giving us a seamless carousel of set changes – with each scene segue jazzed up by Andrew Exeter’s Eurovision-inspired lighting and snippets of ABBA’s most popular tracks.

Now, when I rudely assume that Jodie likely lacks the talent for the gig, it’s because this play actually takes us everywhere but on stage, showing us the drama and the amusing chaos of putting on a last minute show with absolutely no prior experience – and with personal lives and the schemings of resident troublesome twink Christian (Toby Holloway) interrupting.

It’s a bit of a shame, as I think there’s scope here for much more fun to be had if we were to see more of the performance side, be it auditions or rehearsals or snapshots of each sub-par performance – as it stands, it feels like we are missing out on seeing what is constantly discussed and while it’s entertaining, it’s not the lively show some might expect. Overall, I’d say Hallard’s show is warm and engaging but misses a few tricks and winds up more mildly amusing than hilarious.

The Way Old Friends Do is at York Theatre Royal until 10th June 2023 – tickets and more information can be found here.