Many Roads to Paradise *** TNT

Monday 19 October 2009 16:24 GMT

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Many Roads To Paradise

This article was first published on tntonline.co.uk on Monday 19 October 2009 16:24 GMT.

The need for love and affection is paramount in the unlikely linked pairings of Stewart Permutt’s enjoyable, bittersweet comedy which is being given a well-deserved and partially recast second airing at this intimate venue after its short run last year at the equally tiny Finborough.

Having come straight from the hospital where I’d been visiting an extremely elderly relative, I groaned inwardly when blind, 80-something Stella appeared in a wheelchair. But Permutt’s dialogue soon had me laughing. He’s captured not only the wayward thought patterns which often characterise the very, very old, but also the tender feelings which can, sometimes, develop between people from completely different backgrounds. So Muslim Somali carer Sadia in her hijab provides the warmth that Jewish Stella’s critical attitude has long ago knocked out of her relationship with her frumpy 50-plus daughter Helen.

Helen, in turn, has found someone else to criticise her over the years – her long-term lover Avril, a forcibly retired radio producer with an over-fondness for the bottle and an unstoppable waspish tongue. The only thing that seems to be right in Helen’s life is her job at the local travel agent – except that the firm is about to go out of business and her shy, gay boss Martin (who’s about her age) has just taken up, sort of, with the much younger and rather unpleasant man who picked him off the internet because of his hairy chest.

The coincidences are a bit too neat, the characters somewhat underdeveloped, but this short new play is touching as well as funny, and Amanda Boxer’s delivery of Avril’s killer putdowns shouldn’t be missed.

Jermyn Street Theatre, SW1Y 6ST Tube: Piccadilly Circus (020 7287 2875). Until Nov 14. £14-£18