REVIEW: The Undying by Rea Dennhardt Patel at Old Red Lion theatre 11 - 13 February 2025

‘a promising premise which allows changing social attitudes and psychological game playing to be highlighted’ ★★★

THE UNDYING was shortlisted for Soho Theatre’s Tony Craze Award and chosen to be part of FreshFest new writing festival at Old Red Lion Theatre. It is easy to see the reasons for this success as the premise of the play is very clever and the dialogue is well written. 

The play imagines that a pill called TwiceLife has become available which reduces human age each time it’s taken. An elderly couple are faced with the decision to return to an earlier age. Amba, who has bought the pills eagerly takes one but cannot at first persuade her husband. He eventually joins her, and a series of regressions begin.

Each time a tablet is taken, any future memories are erased, only past memories remain. At the same time each becomes younger in the present time, so all the advances in science and those in social attitudes are those of contemporary Britain. In this way feminism becomes a massive incitement to Amba, whereas Prav finds himself in a less welcome world in which he misses the old roles of men and women. It’s an opportunity to show how woman have benefited from these changing attitudes and opportunities, and it also leads to a certain amount of humour.

In Prav’s case the journey is not so positive as something from his past is bothering him. The only way to relieve him of past misery is to take him right back to an earlier time, before the negative event took place.  At each stage of the process, new psychological depths are added, and these give the play its interest. Having said that, the play could be taken much further, with a longer rehearsal period (if financially viable). 

Prav’s psychological problems could be flagged up earlier to ensure a more gripping drama. Both stories run throughout the play, but Amba’s through line is currently much clearer.  The actors work extremely well together and regress beautifully. Akaash Dev Shemar is excellent as the younger Prav but doesn’t yet embody the older Prav.  Clearly as a young man himself, this is the harder part of his role, but I have seen it done by other young actors so perhaps this is something to work on. Sabina Westrup is also excellent as Amba, she doesn’t have such a wide age range, but she must respond to Prav’s regression and her changing stance towards him is thoughtful and charming. This is a woman who cares, but there might be an aspect of her which is selfishly grabbing opportunities to have the time of her life. This comes across very clearly and is part of the burgeoning humour of the piece. 

Going forward, it would be very welcome for more of the humour to land, also more depth to Prav’s trauma, which could also be highlighted with more attention to sound.  When the sound did become noticeable it was very ominous and portentous, both of these feelings were absent in the earlier stages of the play. It was interesting enough, but there is more in the script to explore. 

It is easy to be very excited by the show and its potential. Thanks to Old Red Lion for giving the opportunity to artists to get their work in front of an audience, to be reviewed and to be seen by other industry professionals who might be able to take the work to its next stage. 

Photography: Jonathan Rees

THE UNDYING at Old Red Lion Theatre

Part of FreshFest showcase of brand new theatre

Performance dates: 11th / 12th / 13th February 2025

BOX OFFICE

Shortlisted for Soho Theatre’s Tony Craze Award, starring Sabina Westrup (Top Boy, The Crown), Akaash Dev Shemar (Pleasance, 503), written by Rea Dennhardt Patel (Soho Labs, Royal Court New Writers, RSC) and directed by Chris Yarnell.