Invisible Me by Bren Gosling. New Wimbledon Theatre Studio to 11 September 2021. 4****. William Russell
The problems of turning 60 marked by the arrival of that freedom pass set this initially sad but ultimately heart warming tale about three lonely souls who find that life is not quite over for them. How do they escape - rumpy pumpy is the answer. Finding out how deserted wife and hotel cleaner Lynn (Debbie Christie), onetime Jack the lad taxi driver divorcee Alec (Andrew Fettes), and gay widower Jack (Philip Gill) obsessed with memories of his late partner find they have yet to reach the end of the romantic rainbow is a delight. Director Su Gilroy has assemble a fine cast and manages to make their stories more than just monologues with skillful placing of the other two while the third is talking. their lives might cross, might not. But finding out is rewarding as they each learn lessons about how to seize the moment. Lynn, while cleaning a room, makes a new friend who introduces her to life as a tart, Alec learns the hard way that the dolly bird he thinks he has pulled is actually ticking of conquests on her bucket list, and Paul finds out how to enjoy life on gay dating sites instead of sitting at home moping. Two of the three get together which is not a spoiler, but there has to be a reason why and the plotting of the three stories means it is perfectly possible. There is a lovely moment when the hitherto frumpish Lynn lets her hair down literally and is transformed into a good looking very desirable, if a little unworldly, woman, while Fettes Alec's Jack the Lad past buried beneath the desperation not to admit he is growing old perfectly. That leaves Gill as the uptight Jack and he too catches his feeling that the world has passed him by and all the good things were in his past with skill. That desperation sets in when one reaches sixty is perhaps open to question but for these three it has. The play has a short run in the studio and does deserve to find homes elsewhere.
Lynn: Debbie Christie.
Alec:Andrew Fettes.
Jack: Philip Gill.
Director: Su Gilroy.
Lighting Design: Chuma Lighting Design.
Production Photograph: Sue Gilroy.
