REVIEW: HORNE’S DESCENT at Old Red Lion 2 - 13 April 2024

‘Shady goings on with post war posh folk’ ★★

London,1920. A newly ordained priest, Peter Horne (no pun intended…or is it…) is invited to the home of Etta Florence, a dabbler in the occult. He is there to meet up with his childhood friend Alby Palmer, whom he hasn’t seen since before the Great War. Alby wants to marry Etta’s niece Mary and asks Peter to perform the ceremony. But while inseparable in childhood, Alby and Peter’s initial bonhomie slowly fractures as glimpses from their chequered childhood surface. As Alby watches, Peter is increasingly drawn into Mary’s sinister web. But who are Etta and Mary? Are they all they seem?

The above plot summary makes Horne’s Descent seem more coherent than it was. Such a shame, as there is the germ of a good play in here. The play would be stronger if writer Nina Atesh picked one of the numerous threads she introduced and developed it into something more substantial. At this stage in the play’s development the characters are not well formed and rely on occasional Bible quotes to make them seem more profound than they are. The plot jerks along, with action arising from the thinnest of reasons, and sometimes for no discernible reason at all. Ultimately, I just didn’t care about any of the characters, which makes it hard to stay engaged.

Bethany Slater did the best she could with the part she was given – that of Mary - and was the most successful at adopting the physicality of the 1920s. Magnus Gordon also made the most of Alby. The real star of the show was Miranda Cattermole whose set and costume designs brought us into the 1920s the moment we walked into the space.  

In its current state, there is little to recommend Horne’s Descent, but I do hope Atesh sticks with it. There is something here, she just needs to find it.

Photo credit: Bethany Monk-Lane

HORNE’S DESCENT at Old Red Lion 2 - 13 April 2024

Box Office https://www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk/hornes-descent.html

Performers: Alexander Hackett, Magnus Gordon, Cici Clarke, Bethany Slater

Writer: Nina Atesh

Director: Chloe Cattin

Set & Costume Design: Miranda Cattermole

Original Music: Kimia Allahyari

Movement & Intimacy: Khushboo Shah

Stage Manager:. Nathan Friend

Produced by: Pither Productions



Reviewer: Srabani Sen

Srabani is a theatre actress and playwright. As an actress she has performed at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (The Globe), the Arcola, Southwark Playhouse, The Pleasance and numerous fringe theatres, in a range of roles from Shakespeare to plays by new and emerging writers. She has written several short and full length plays. Her play Tawaif was longlisted for the ETPEP Finborough award, and her play Vijaya was shortlisted for the Sultan Padamsee Playwrights Award in Mumbai.