To Have and To Hold
- Steve Pratt
- May 8
- 2 min read
Richard Bean
Hull Truck Theatre Company
Hull Truck Theatre
May 1-24, 2025; 2hrs 25mins
Getting old is nothing to laugh about. Unless you’re Richard Bean, as the author of One Man, Two Guvnors conclusively demonstrates in his latest comedy.
The play opens with a joke about a stairlift, as elderly Florence goes up, goes down, goes up, goes down, deliberating whether to answer someone at the door downstairs or respond to her equally aged husband in the bedroom upstairs.
Florence (Paula Wilcox) and Jack (Ian Bartholomew) are in their nineties. Their relationship has developed into almost non-stop bickering – but in a caring, loving way, perhaps typical of many couples who have survived long-term relationships. Old age has brought them aches and pains and forgetfulness, as well as the realisation that things are never going to be the same and that life is nearly over.
Enter their grown-up children, Rob (Stephen Tompkinson) and Tina (Rebecca Johnson) to sort out their parents’ finances and Jack’s ill health...
First seen at Hampstead Theatre in London two years ago, Hull Truck brings To Have and To Hold back home to Bean’s city of birth, setting it in the East Yorkshire village of Wetwang (and yes, Bean can’t resist a joke about the name).
It all sounds very depressing, but Bean’s sure hand with a comic line ensures plenty of laughter, not least when Florence tries to remember the name of an actor and a complex series of clues are used to identify her.
To the mix Bean has added Adrian Hood’s rhubarb king Eddie (a joy to behold) and Sara Beharrell’s helpful neighbour, Pamela, for the sake of a sub-plot involving mystery withdrawals from the elderly couple’s bank account.
In truth, there’s a bit too much going on. The production, directed by Terry Johnson (who co-directed the London production), could do with trimming, but earns its four stars by dint of being very, very funny and unafraid to get sentimental for the final act.
Playing old can be all wobbly walking sticks and shaky hands. Ian Bartholomew’s retired police officer Jack and Paula Wilcox’s housewife Florence avoid any of that obvious fake ry, with performances that never make you doubt their age. Watch how they move slowly even in the blackouts, rather than rushing off stage.
Stephen Tompkinson turns in a first class performance as the son coming to terms with the condition of his aged parents, while Adrian Hood has only to stand on stage to be funny.
More info and tickets here
