In 24 (Day): The Measure of My Dreams, the stage is thronging with participants as if there had been a coup at the Almeida – community theatre as it ought to be. The show centres on Islington in north London, and writer Annie Jenkins and director Jack Nurse have pulled off an exuberant celebration of – and with – its residents. They have collaborated with organisations such as All Change, Cardboard Citizens and Arsenal in the Community, and the pair have form: they were involved in the Almeida’s admirable The Key Workers Cycle in 2022.
This is a feelgood story with sadness at its core. Liz, in her 70s, is married to Eddie, who lives with dementia (touchingly informed by the real experience of “Stephen”) and has moved into Highbury House care home. We meet her as she attends a hospital appointment where, in a reversal of what you might expect, she keeps an NHS radiographer waiting with her nervy chat. We have to wait, too, before hearing that cancer has spread to her bones.
Jean Woollard, one of the show’s two professional actors, tackles the role of Liz with full-on zest, wears a groovy green maxi mac and, like a teenager, is constantly on her phone, usually to Mark, her grownup grandson (likably played by Kwami Odoom, the cast’s other pro). The difficulty is that in this show’s successful mission to stay upbeat and overturn depressing stereotypes about old age, there is an uncomfortable implication that age ideally has to involve nifty, risque fun to be theatrically acceptable – or acceptable at all. This aside, though, there is an enjoyably rebellious feel to the writing (“Everyone is a fucking therapist these days”) and the commitment of the players is inspiring.
