There’s something nostalgic about The House of Shades. Not just because Beth Steel’s heavyweight saga about a working-class family feels tied to a tradition of old-fashioned, muscular social dramas. But because it’s full of arguments about politics. Proper politics. Ideas. Philosophy. Oh, how wistful I felt for days when we didn’t only argue about the basic moral integrity of those in political office.
In Steel’s play, spanning 1965 to 2019, those arguments take place around the Webster family’s kitchen table. The play is set in a terraced house in Nottinghamshire, where several generations live under one roof; there’s always a battle going on. Constance (Anne-Marie Duff) bickers with her exasperated husband Alistair (Stuart McQuarrie), while their three children try to defuse the tension. Edith (Carol MacReady), Constance’s grandmother, wears black in mourning for her husband – but the memory of his abuse is a lingering shadow.
