REVIEW: Four Women and a Funeral by Jennifer Selway at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Camden Fringe, 15-17 August

“I thought about killing him on a regular basis, like any normal wife.” - The widow. ★★★★

I look forward to Jennifer Selway farces ever since I laughed out loud at Flat Out, which had a sold-out run at Upstairs at the Gatehouse in 2019. Four Women and a Funeral takes the most unlikely setting for laughter – a funeral parlour, into which walks a newly bereaved widow. If you didn’t know Selway’s work you might think you were in for a serious play were it not that the funeral parlour is called Restmore Funeral Home. 

The elements of farce are quickly assembled. The body of the late Reuben Roffe, a famous novelist, appears to have been held up in a snowstorm.  The celebrity guests fail to arrive. The widow, though dressed in black herself, has asked other mourners to arrive in pink, so that she can make them regret having spent money on pink clothes they will never wear again. 

Soon two mourners appear. One, we swiftly discover, was the late Reuben’s long time mistress. And the other – but no: that would be spoiling it.  They are joined by the celebrant, and I will not tell you who she turns out to be, either. The late Reuben (you’re way ahead of me) has left a little video to be played at his funeral. 

It's nice to see a play with parts only for older women, and all Selway’s characters are over 60. For me, the standout performance was Donna Combe as the widow, all sideswipes and Jewish insouciance. But it’s a good ensemble cast with a sense of humour, and director Racky Plews keeps up the pace and makes the most of the lines.



Four Women and a Funeral is thoroughly enjoyable nonsense, with a host of entertaining one liners. It’s not worth spoiling your enjoyment by interrogating the plot too much. It’s completely implausible, but who cares? The one point where I feel Selway overdid the implausibility is in the last of many reveals, which, of course, I won’t reveal.

FOUR WOMEN AND A FUNERAL by Jennifer Selway

Part of Camden Fringe

Upstairs at the Gatehouse 15 – 17 August 2025

Box Office https://camdenfringe.com/events/four-women-and-a-funeral/

The widow: Donna Combe

The mistress: Eliza McClelland

The celebrant: Victoria Jeffrey

The guest: Lena Hodgson

 The corpse: Steve Jameson

Writer: Jennifer Selway

Director: Racky Plews

Assistant director and stage manager: Eliza Shea

Lighting design: Alistair Warr

Produced by Katie and John Plews for Ovation.

Reviewed by Francis Beckett