The Q, King’s Head Theatre Review

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Reviewer - Bronagh

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review.

Content Warning: swearing, terminal illness, miscarriage.

I’m sure many of us remember where we were when we heard The Queen had died. Perhaps you were at work, watching the news from home or on a walk. Dr Ruth Triggs (Maddy Maguire), one of our main characters in The Q, was being proposed to as soon as Huw Edwards announced the sad news. And she had just been suspended from work due to dalliances with a patient. Pretty unforgettable!

The Q is the story of Ruth and her neighbour Barry (Mansel David); Ruth also happens to be Barry’s doctor and has recently given him the news that his cancer is terminal. The unlikely pair strike up a conversation smoking outside of their building, resulting in Ruth agreeing to queue to see The Queen’s coffin with him. Ruth learns about Barry’s past as a female impersonator, who performed at the Royal Variety Show in front of The Queen herself. With Barry in costume -not quite Palladium standard, but it does the job - off they go to join The Queue. To Ruth’s absolute dismay, their neighbours for the next 12 to 14 hours no other than the patient she has been having sex with, Walter (Billy Gurney), and his irritatingly upbeat wife Lilian (Ellana Gilbert).

Maguire perfectly encapsulates the cynical Ruth, who is a very believable and realistic character. Ruth is in a relationship that she has seemingly checked out of with her boyfriend Christopher (Prashant Tailor) making all the effort which is not reciprocated. She is initially pessimistic, with a life lacking ever so slightly. David’s portrayal of cantankerous Barry is brilliant, with plenty of amusing one-liners. He bristles at modern drag, musing about his past as a performer and pining for his late partner. Maguire and David’s performances are equally raw and captures the well-loved traditional British humour.

Gilbert’s performance as the very perky, very upbeat Lilian is outstanding. She portrays an overexcited queuer as close to what I imagine a lot of the queuers were like; singing, buying hot chocolates laced with Baileys and chatting with everybody. This is a contrast to the other side of Lilian, who is also mourning the loss of a baby and dealing with her husband cheating on her.

The Q brings real life to the stage; the death of The Queen and the aftermath, betrayal of loved ones and real-life experiences such as death. It also shows us love, emotion and people coming together in the strangest of circumstances.