Hourglass: A Suffragette Story – Soho Poly

‘Hourglass: A Suffragette Story’ was advertised as a dark comedy, but I could count on one hand the number of times any audience member could be heard laughing. It felt as though five acts had been thrown into hamster wheel of amateur dialogue and could not disembark. This was not helped by a hefty running time.

Set in the time before and during World War One, we watch a mother, daughter and their maid experience and support first wave British feminism. It seems that the men surrounding them has something to gain they seek to protect their social status, defend their gender or make their money. During Act 1, great ladles of pathos were heaped onto Kitty (Penny Bosworth), the maid-turned-beggar, by swamping the audience with repetitive scenes of her begging us. She is then offered residence by Dr Lockhart (Paul White), who treats this Marxist Eliza Doolittle carefully, and then callously… Meanwhile, Caroline (Vikki Thompson) is carted off to a mental asylum by her husband Mr Braithwaite (James Stephen Finn), who grapples with his love for his wife alongside his fear of her burgeoning feminist ideals. Gradually, we learn that Dr Lockhart is a ‘mastermind’ that greedily orchestrates the action for his own personal gain.

Here is the play’s saving grace: a clear plot that its audience could follow. Perhaps it was too clear, its events overly familiar and basic, void of the silly or sardonic surprises that you expect in a comedy, or the reversal of expectations that contemporary theatre often delivers. In fact, I am unable to recall a single joke or comic motif.

Yet from start to finish, cheap dialogue served to cut-and-stick the action. As a result, the strong themes of emotional coercion, sexism and misogyny were ultimately undermined. The reveals became increasingly predictable, whilst there were one too many moments of ‘quick, hide!’; a burning sign of action lacking inventiveness. The penultimate scene portrayed a random slow-motion gun fight that garnered a decent chuckle from the audience. By this point, however, it was too little too late to infuse any comic stylisation/self-awareness into the piece: I already felt totally disconnected from the fate of its characters.

The wonderful abilities of the actors managed to shine through the heavy clouds of tedium. There were a few moments where I was intrigued by White’s Dr Lockhart, who excelled in his very human and honest presentation of this Jekyll-and-Hyde character. Meanwhile, Larissa Pinkham’s enthusiasm was wholly believable as the hopeful Cordelia and the future of feminism. Finally, Stephen Ball was convincing in his role as the hardened and suspicious butler Meeks. For the most part, however, their talent was obscured by this long, humourless comedy.

Reviewer: Eleanor Hall

Reviewed: 25th June 2024

North West End UK Rating: