Writer: Tim Stubbs Hughes
Director: Julia Stubbs
Reviewer: Christine Stanton
“Poetic“
3 / 5
John and Betty have spent many happy years together – but on her 86th birthday, she’s become weary of what lies ahead, and sad about her creative past life that she feels no longer defines her.
The couple made a pact many years prior – when they are ready, they’ll choose their own ending, taking power in what they feel is one last choice available to them. With a roll of a dice, it’s determined that in 10 months, they will end their lives together, on their own terms. What follows is both a poetic and practical look into Betty (Mary Tillett) and John’s (John Rayment) final months, as they box up their belongings, make peace with the past and reflect on the moments they’d shared together – good and bad.
It is a touching concept, that is packed with believable emotion through Tillett and Rayment. The slow, packing away of their lives is symbolic and allows for multiple opportunities for them to explore memories linked to various items, even those that initially would appear insignificant. John is a writer, who frequently calls back to his prior work and applies it to his feelings or interactions with Betty. His gentle, loving manner towards her is endearing and likeable. Betty is an artist, skilled at finding the beauty in life, though her persona is much more abrupt and impatient compared to John, and the mutual decision of them ending their lives definitely feels more on her terms than his, whether that is intentional or not!
While their interactions are at points tender and thought-provoking, they are often delivered as monologues, rather than natural, genuine conversations, which would work remarkably better at unravelling the pairs connection. Having monologue after monologue does get somewhat tiresome, and takes a lot of the feeling out of the words, because they then come across as a constructed speech rather than an impassioned conversation. There is definitely room to manoeuvre in the script though, because the concept is intriguing and a lot of the points that are touched on – infidelity, love, ageing and death, spark some integral ideas that work well together to form the full narrative.
Tillet and Rayment have good chemistry together, and the final scenes pack an emotional punch that leaves a lasting impact on the audience.
Runs until 3rd October 2026
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