REVIEW: Trestle by Stewart Pringle at Jack Studio Theatre 18 Feb - 8 Mar 2025

Photography: Ross Kernahan

‘very touching’ ★★★★

I do love a two show day. So, on Thursday, I saw a starry matinee in the West End and then returned to The Jack Studio Theatre in the evening for the revival of Stewart Pringle’s Trestle. 

Both shows were largely reliant on the writing and how the actors interacted, developed character and gave a sense of reality and plausibility. For the most part, the big West End show didn’t manage this despite its TV-friendly cast and the writers credentials. Trestle, on the other hand, once again showed what can be achieved in a small space and tiny budget when the story and the writing is on point.

We see a sparse town hall where there’s (initially) nowhere to make a cup of coffee and a dodgy toilet. It’s very quickly clear, however, that we are in Yorkshire and over a period of several Thursdays we see two 60 somethings - Denise and Harry - meet, gently get to know one another, and then see their lives evolve and intertwine. 

Harry is wrapping up his weekly ‘improvements committee’ meeting - playing with his papers, battered briefcase and gavel - when the ebullient Denise comes to start her seniors Zumba class. Thus begins a relationship that, in the first half at least, looks as though it will head only one way especially when we find out that Harry is a widower and Denise slowly starts to spark some life into his sad eyes.

Indeed, the first half is a series of short scenes which hold a mirror up to life in a small northern village - the important and un-important sit side by side and life progresses quietly and slowly. The trestle table where Harry conducts his meeting becomes the focal point and, once he realises that Denise isn’t the cleaner whose come to put it and the hall chairs away, they conduct an integral part of their differing lives in this small, cold space.

So far so Alan Bennett. I questioned the need for an interval but as the second half developed, it’s clear that things have and will change. Harry and Denise are now comfortable with one another and both can ‘tell it how it is’ and this allows the show to go into areas that are unexpected and maybe even uncomfortable. The neat, happy ending that perhaps the audience wanted doesn’t happen, albeit the final scene is touching and charming and smart.

Expertly navigated by director Matthew Parker (by the way, so affectingly good as an actor in the same venues 2023 Christmas show Oh No It Isn’t), the scenes are allowed to breathe and I had no problem with the constant ‘up and down’ of the trestle table and the transitions were easy and deliberate. Stewart Pringle’s script does indeed have echoes of Alan Bennett - he clearly knows Yorkshire / the North East (I believe he is from there) and, more pertinently, he has an ear and eye for how people talk and just live their lives. 

As always, great writing needs great acting and as the more worldly Denise, Jilly Bond has warmth and depth, and a connection with both the audience and her fellow actor. I would have maybe ‘dialled it down’ a little at times and I felt that we didn’t quite know enough about her life and back story - but a lovely performance despite a questionable line in sandwich filling …

Timothy Harker’s Harry is insular and deflated and lost. His weekly routine ‘just continues’ and how Denise impacts on his life is entirely believable and relatable. How his character develops in the second half gives him the chance to show his range and it’s a very touching performance.

Another hit for Kate and Karl at the Jack Studio Theatre - you’ve got about a week to go and see it.

BOX OFFICE