Review: THE WAY OLD FRIENDS DO, Birmingham Rep
Photo credit: Darren Bell
‘No shame in being an ABBA fan anymore, everybody loves them’, Edward (played by the hilarious James Bradshaw) tells his old school friend. ABBA have certainly adopted a new-found respect since their reunion in 2016. Though not always considered as high art, the recent ABBA Voyage concert has proven their timeless charm and likability is infectious and has resulted in a musical and two films starring Meryl Streep. Ian Hallard’s play The Way Old Friends Do, with Mark Gatiss’s direction is definitely capitalising on this, and wisely so.
The Way Old Friends Do starts in a small library theatre where we meet Jodie (played by Rose Shalloo) and Sally (Donna Berlin). Jodie is nervous and tells Donna she decided not to dwell on the typo in the ad, as it said they were looking for two women to play Benny and Bjorn. We then move to Peter’s living room waiting for his tinder date to arrive. When he does, he realises it is in fact his old friend from school, Edward. After the initial shock and the mutual understanding that there is no romance between them, they begin to reminisce about their love for ABBA. They agree to meet up again with Peter’s friends for lunch and here we meet Sally again. Sally works for the small library theatre and is wondering how she will fill the ABBA tribute band that has just cancelled at the last minute. That’s when Peter has a brilliant idea - why not do an ABBA tribute band but…you guessed it: in drag.
A small yet strong cast leads this hilarious and surprisingly moving show. Janet Bird’s staging is simple, yet extremely effective. Two large A’s are the doors either side of two B’s, which are the wall, the stage is then in the round and the B’s move from time to time to reveal a choice of two spaces and of course the spelling remains the same, the wonder of palindromes. The costumes are also in a league of their own, including a pair of enviable 5-inch gold stilettos. The star of the show, without a doubt, is Tariye Peterside (who plays Mrs. Campbell, the rusty piano player hired by the theatre). Mrs. Campbell barely knows who Benny is but proves she is quite capable of wearing a beard and sitting at a piano nodding her head.
The show is full of great comedy talents and memorable one-liners (‘he came out to me as gay, and I came out to him as an ABBA fan’), but it is also so much more than that. Through the script we see struggles of acceptance, grief and above all friendship, portrayed beautifully by Edward and Peter who have a fantastic natural chemistry. With all this in mind, it is a little bit of a shame that despite the play being about an ABBA drag tribute act, we never really get to see it in action. This can be forgiven, however, as with a script this funny and charming, you won’t want to miss it. Being an ABBA fan is finally acceptable and if this show is anything to go by, it’s a lot of fun!
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Sophie Eaton
The Way Old Friends Do plays at Birmingham Rep until 4 March before touring, with further information here.