Happy Days, Etcetera Theatre, stage review: ‘Pub theatre at its very best’
Catharine Humphrys is ‘very human’ as Winnie. Photograph: courtesy Victor Sobchak
Fresh from a run at the Arcola in Dalston, the Theatre Collection’s take on Happy Days is a large-stage-quality production that is well adapted to the smaller dimensions of a pub theatre such as Etcetera, where you can catch it for a few more days.
Directed by Victor Sobchak, the Samuel Beckett classic features Catharine Humphrys in the role of Winnie, and Chris Diacolpoulos as her partner Willy.
The play is among the most astute dramatic dissections of the geriatric human condition: “To be always what I am – and so changed from what I was” is Winnie’s gloss on the predicament.
Eking pleasure out of misery becomes a daily challenge as physical and cognitive powers ebb away; the benefits of human interaction are ambiguous, and the characters are stuck in the quintessential Beckettian motif of going on, despite all the odds, but in circles of repetition.
Nearly a monologue, the script has Winnie as its central focus.
Humphrys offers a very human and emotionally intelligent interpretation of the character, set against humorous interjections from Diacolpoulos’s Willy.
The pair work well together, and the lean running time of 60 minutes has them galloping through the script at a riveting pace.
This is pub theatre at its very best, and well worth a visit to Camden Town.
Happy Days runs until 31 January at Etcetera Theatre, 265 Camden High Street, NW1 7BU.