Coming out to your family is tough, but coming out as an ABBA fan has its own challenges. As two old schoolfriends reunite after years for their latest venture, I went to see their unique story at their final tour stop in London’s West End, following a journey around the country and a stop in Sheffield, to see just how old friends do it.
The Way Old Friends Do follows Edward and Peter, two friends from school who reunite after years apart. Edward meets Peter’s friend Sally who works in a local theatre, and following a cancellation, decide to form an ABBA tribute band, but with a twist; ABBA in drag, with the cast switching sexes. Alongside local theatre performer Jodie and piano player Mrs Campbell, they form their tribute show, and have no idea of the adventure they’ll go on.
This show, being ABBA themed, has a lot of theatrical competition, particularly in London. The city is also home to Mamma Mia, ABBA Voyage and ABBA Party, meaning this final tour stop was always going to be a challenge. And from seeing the show, I’m sad to say this production really presents no competition. The theatre was half empty just two weeks after opening and the content might go a long way to explain this. The show felt like it was a production for a village hall, or at a push, a small venue at Edinburgh Fringe. The writing wasn’t revolutionary or exciting in any way, the staging was simple with painfully long transitions to the first 30 seconds of a random ABBA song and the show was disappointing at several key points. The entire first act builds up to the first performance of the drag ABBA tribute, we have the interval, & then we come back just as the cast have finished the performance. Finally, the show was very generic. Within 24 hours, you could easily change the band or artist the show’s protagonists were focusing on to any other, with no one in the audience being any the wiser.
The content, whilst not enjoyable, was played well, & the cast were let down by the material they were performing. Anton Tweedale gave a standout performance as Edward, giving us this iconic, camp performance of his unique character. He was a joy to watch and seeing him interact with the other band mates and characters was hilarious throughout, with a ton of quips and jokes in every single scene. The production also features the voice of the late Paul O’Grady, which was a nice touch and I hope these sections are kept in any future runs.
The Way Old Friends Do fell very flat for me. The story feels unimportant and just another effort to capitalise on the popularity of ABBA. Whilst funny, I doubt this show is destined for much following its close in London.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
The Way Old Friends Do is playing at the Criterion Theatre in London until September 9th
