Review: Really Old Like Forty Five

If ever there were a play that had state-of-the-nation ambitions it is Tamsin Oglesby’s satire about ageing and ageism. But what a missed opportunity this is, not just to be funny about a scary subject, but to say something interesting about a big problem. Oglesby’s vision of the near future sees the old used as guinea pigs for potentially fatal anti-dementia drugs. Paul Ritter provides a high-octane stand-out performance as the minister in charge of pioneering research hospitals where old people are experimented on but die happy. But the humour is fatally naff because so little is believable, especially the idea that a hospital would use robot nurse that would confuse the senile and have the healthy lust after her. Mackmin’s script loses the plot, and director Anna Mackmin cannot prevent her production from falling between broad comedy and pathos-driven drama.