Review - Waiting for God - People's Theatre

Waiting For God 
People's Theatre
15th July 2025

As ever the People's Theatre have ended the season on a high, though to be fair, it you'd be hard pressed to find any lows!  Their final show of the season is an adaptation of the sit-com Waiting for God. Set in a retirement home, it follows the adventures of Diana (Karen Elliot) and Tom (Jim Boylan) - a couple thrown together by the vagaries of age and singledom, who are not yet ready to be "old". Tom is a widower, having lost his wife 15 years earlier, Diana an ex photo-journalist struggling to come to terms with an aging body that doesn't allow her to do everything she once did. Both have built up defences to keep people at arm's length; Tom goes off on imaginary journeys, Diana has cultivated a persona with more prickles than a cactus. They discover that they are unlikely kindred spirits, and they join forces to outsmart and out manouvre the managenmnet. They threaten sit ins in protest at the terrible food, they take off  on an illicit trip to Bournemouth in Diana's niece's porche, and they shock the staff of the centre by (God forbid) getting drunk and sleeping together! 

Michael Atkins adaptation captures all the elements of the original series, concentrating into just few
choice scenes. The writing is clever, witty and uncompromising. Full of  one liners, quips and puns,  it highlights the challenges of aging - physical, emotional and mental; the failing body parts, the social expectation or lack of - "old people" don't do these things. The frustrations of being treated like a child, and the fear when things do start to go wrong - falls, funny turns, problems with your piping (I'll never hear Aretha Franklin now without laughing)! All these issues are there but ultimately this is a positive, life affirming play. 

All of this is dealt with with such humour - sometimes quite dark, sometimes ridiculously physical, but always with integrity. The characters bounce off each other - the incompetence of the younger ones a foil for the sagacity of Diana and Tom. The four main characters give outstanding performances throughout, but keep an eye on the ensemble too as they sashay in to change scenes, moving tables and chairs (so many times, and with such efficiency!) in time to the excellent sound track, and watch for the flirting going on in the back ground at the hospital! These little details, easily missed if your're not paying attention, only add to the humour and to the overall sense of fun that runs through the play. 

Brilliantly done. 

Waiting for God runs until Saturday 19th and is an absolute joy from beginning to end. It is a worthy Finale!

*images by Paul Hood

Denise Sparrowhawk