Review: THE HOUSE OF SHADES, Almeida Theatre

Photo credit: Helen Murray

Blanche McIntyre directs Beth Steel’s new play, The House of Shades. Delayed due to the pandemic, it is worth the wait. 

The story of the working-class Websters spanning from 1965 to 2019, it’s a family saga with all the ingredients. Over five acts, each set in different years, we see deaths, marriages, tragedy, fall outs and secrets revealed through flashbacks. The changing political landscape over the decades (unions, Thatcherism, New Labour and Brexit) and what that means for the working class is a constant source of debate and conflict. 

At its heart is the matriarch, Constance (Anne-Marie Duff). Constance had hopes of being a singer, but instead had three children with husband Alistair (Stuart McQuarrie) who is content with his life as a shop steward and having his bacon fried for him.  

Duff is exceptional. Constance is cruel, angry and toxic, yet Duff plays her with such complexity that we manage to sympathise with her for the majority of the piece, because she is also fierce and funny. Her dialogue is littered with Bette Davis quotes delivered with great timing and she sings beautifully. So, we see why she is bitter. 

The cast are all great. When a character has died, they reappear as older versions of their children; an effective way to tell the story. All fine actors, we see them as the new character. In particular, Kelly Gough shows great range, as grown up Agnes (Constance’s daughter) and later Agnes’ daughter, who both stay in their town. With ease, Gough goes from the youthful exuberance of believing in community to being down trodden and trapped by a low income and caring for her ill mother. We have compassion for her. 

The production is ambitious and uses a mixed bag of tricks. The sight and sound of an old fashioned camera clicks seamlessly to change scenes as the year is projected on the back wall. The set (Anna Fleischle) as a 1960s kitchen sitting in the frame of their house doesn’t change much, but looks authentic. It’s the lighting (Richard Howell) that triumphs in changing the scenes and mood. When Duff is singing, she is lit like a star by a spot and looks magnetic.  In the flashbacks, the character looking back is often lit dimly as the scene plays out. 

Bravely, the play also depicts an abortion, which doesn’t hold much back. Whilst it is hard to watch, it is necessary to the plot and well done. The play makes great use of Beatie Edney’s character of Neighbour who starts the play as the woman laying out a body and then punctuates each scene when there is a death, turning up like the grim reaper dressed like Hilda Ogden. 

There is one dream like sequence that doesn’t entirely work, when Aneurin Bevan (a prominent Welsh Labour politician) visits Alistair’s character. Whilst there is a back drop of politics in this story, it seems a bit out of place in an otherwise family drama. 

But it’s such an engaging story and cleverly executed that the nearly three hours goes quickly and by the end, we felt every emotion of these characters. 

Every family has a story and this will resonate with us all.   

The House of Shades plays at the Almeida Theatre until 18 June 2022, with tickets available here.