An Eligible Man

Synopsis

A charming and charismatic recently widowed Hampstead judge struggles to throw off his burden of grief. As he does his best to come to terms with the baffling mysteries of domestic life, from which his late wife has always protected him, he is surprised to discover that as an attractive and eligible widower in late middle age he is much in demand. He finds himself pursued by three very determined women desperately looking for new husbands. With which of them will he find the happiness he has lost and the contentment he is seeking? The efforts of the women to ensnare him, in which no holds are barred, are played out in a touching and hilarious comedy of grief by bestselling author and playwright Rosemary Friedman.

Our Review:

Paul Lucas-Scott - 17 April 2012

In the final scene of this piece there is a mention of speed-dating, but for those of us in the audience, it feels like we have just spent the last 90 minutes or so watching something very similar. In such a short production, the 17 scene changes come with such frightening rapidity that, before it is possible to begin to get comfortable, the action moves on.

In a nutshell, the story involves Judge Charles Castlemain, very recently widowed, who we first meet on the day of his wife’s funeral. He is comforted by his daughter Poppy Meadows and, just as we start to really feel the emotion of a recently bereaved long-term partner, the action moves to the very next day when the first of a string of “ladies of a certain age” start to throw themselves at him. Quite inexplicably.

John D Collins as Castlemain is suitably wordy and pompous, obviously highly intelligent and extremely well-read, but he’s not really a pleasant person. The fact is that, wit...

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