Simon Ward reviews and I looked at the sky at the Omnibus Theatre

It is timely that Tim Stubbs Hughes’s new play should be opening now, when the topic of assisted dying is again on the political agenda. His protagonists seem to have solved the problem for themselves, law or no law. They are a long-married couple – Betty (Mary Tillett) a painter and John (John Rayment) a writer – who decades ago agreed that when their creative juices had finally dried up, they would choose the time of their departure. It is Betty’s eighty-sixth birthday, with John’s not far behind. He is convinced that now is the moment, she, perhaps less so. Nevertheless, they roll the dice which determine that they will have ten more months to live.

The simple set of a well-worn kitchen table nestled on an antique rug, covered in mis-matched crockery and an old analogue radio conjures up their long lives living in a remote part of rural England. But, it seems, it was not always so. While it may be a blessing to be eating carrots harvested from their own plot it can seem rather tame compared to their respective pasts when they were feted around the world for their work.

Under the direction of Julia Stubbs, the relationship between Betty and John is carefully drawn and beautifully acted. Betty is dissatisfied with where she has ended up – the travails of ageing in general, and her struggles with her creativity in particular, have made her question whether she has made the right choices in her life. Although she and John have been married for decades there are suggestions that there have been other men along the way, who might have changed her life for the better. Sensing all of this, John does everything he can to cheer her up, which only succeeds in annoying her more. The birthday carrot cake, for instance, is defective because it only has one candle. In reality, of course, she is devastated that another year has past, and no amount of cake can alleviate that.

It can at times be hard to square the past lives as related here with the reality of what we see before us – the glamour and wealth is no longer in evidence. It may always be difficult to see how vibrant an older person may have been in their younger days, nevertheless it does feel like we are simply told about their earlier selves rather than being shown what they used to be like.

The pair circle round the central overarching question – when it comes to the point, will they act on their agreement? It seems that John has been able to procure a deadly cocktail – we are not told where this has come from or how he has managed it, but there are two rather charming glasses from which to drink it. John is reconciled to his lot, Betty more inclined to rage against the dying of the light.

If the love that initially brought them together is sometimes hard to perceive as they bicker back and forth, there is a touching moment when they finally embrace, and cling to each other for dear life. And there is a sublime moment when they have finally drunk their cocktail and their faces are gently illuminated by the last rising sun that they will ever see.

and I looked at the sky is running at the Omnibus Theatre,1 Clapham Common North Side, London SW4 0QW until Saturday 3rd October