REVIEW: IVORIES at Old Red Lion Theatre 1–26 July 2025
“there is a kernel of something worthwhile here” ★★★☆☆
There’s no denying that IVORIES, now running at the Old Red Lion Theatre, is a production steeped in atmosphere and ambition. Set in a dilapidated old house, the evocative set immediately draws you in; the dated decor and torn wallpaper, rain tapping persistently, a radio murmuring faintly in the background, plunges us straight into the eerie decay of a crumbling house and the fraying relationships within it. It’s a richly designed space that evokes an unsettling sense of place - claustrophobic, decaying, and ripe with unease. From the outset there’s the promise of something lurking just out of view, something quietly unhinged, but while the production design builds a sense of dread, sadly, the script struggles to maintain momentum.
The story orbits around Sloane, an emotionally volatile playwright; it’s their family home in ruins as they await the death of their Grandmother - their only surviving relative. Sloane and their husband Gwyn are trapped in a love triangle with Gwyn’s ex-boyfriend Beckham, who visits them under the proviso of helping put the house up for sale. Their entangled history creates fertile ground for drama, but throws the pacing off, particularly in the first half. Rather than heightening tension, the dialogue repeats the same emotional beats which saps energy from the piece without advancing the story. Rather than deepening our understanding of the characters, it renders them increasingly insufferable.
A decaying house, a troubled marriage, weird happenings and the unsettling presence of unseen neighbours acting oddly should be compelling grounds for a good horror story, and yet the play takes far too long to get going and the love triangle, with its modern LGBTQ+ twist, could be compelling, but instead of breaking ground, it veers into soap opera. There’s a sense that IVORIES wants to channel the emotional brutality of playwrights like Edward Albee, but it lacks the verbal dexterity and psychological nuance to pull it off.
Sloane is a particularly frustrating presence - obsessed by their writing, perpetually demanding praise and validation for their work, wallowing in victimhood, and lashing out in a way that becomes wearisome. Gwyn’s increasingly passive response to the strange goings-on in the house is frustrating and leaves you wondering why he doesn’t take more decisive action. Only Beckham, the most grounded of the three, feels fully realised. He’s clear in his motivations, sympathetic and sentimental - but even he starts to grate through sheer ineffectiveness as the play progresses. The question begins to hang over the whole piece: if the characters have no sense of self-preservation or drive to action, why should the audience emotionally invest in their fate?
There are moments that suggest what the play could be. The sound and lighting design are phenomenal - delivering some truly striking technical work and, had the emotional stakes in the characters been more rooted, these moments could have been genuinely chilling. As it stood, when the scares finally arrived, they were too late. Dialogue-heavy scenes have drained away the tension, and when the characters begin to unravel, you can’t help but wonder why no one simply... leaves.
That said, the cast do their best, and there is a kernel of something worthwhile here - a refreshing attempt to tell a queer story without leaning on tragic tropes to portray a gay relationship. With a sharper script, IVORIES could be a chilling exploration of love, guilt, and psychological collapse, and become the ghost story it clearly wants to be. For now, it’s an ambitious production caught between horror and melodrama, bloated with angst and light on suspense.
IVORIES
by Riley Elton McCarthy
Box Office: https://www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk/ivories.html
CAST
Riley Elton McCarthy, Matthias Hardarson, Daniel Neil Ash and Ashley M. Cowles
Creative team
Georgie Rankom - Director)
Waverley Moran - Production Stage Manager
Skylar Turnbull Hurd - Lighting
Verity Johnson - Scenic & Costumes
