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Lifers

 
Douglas Gibson Review by Douglas Gibson 4 Published: 7 Oct 2025 Southwark Playhouse Borough Show Dates: 2 Sep 2025-25 Oct 2025

Huddled together in a cell, using toothpicks for poker chips, three prisoners serving life sentences pass the long hours ahead of them playing cards: Norton (Sam Cox), a brash inmate intent on winning the game through trickery and subterfuge; Baxter (Ricky Fearon), more amenable but not above stacking the deck to his advantage; and Lenny (Peter Wight), whose Zimmer frame is an early sign of his vulnerability in this bleak environment. Lifers, thoughtfully written by Evan Placey, initially withholds the nature of their past crimes, allowing us to get to know them first as individuals, not offenders. Amidst bouts of verbal jousting and goading, we glimpse moments of fraternity and warmth between them. Yet always lurking are flights of temper and capriciousness, leading us to ponder the real reasons behind their incarceration.

The interplay between warm light and hostile shadows guides us through these transitions effortlessly.

The story centres on Lenny in this Synergy Theatre Project production, a company dedicated to exploring issues related to the penal system and social justice. Plagued by incessant headaches, Lenny pleads with Sonya – the overworked and disillusioned prison doctor (Mona Goodwin) – to see a specialist. But under pressure from the governor to keep costs down, she is reluctant to grant him a referral, instead prescribing ibuprofen and a course of antidepressants. It’s only thanks to prison guard Mark (James Backway), who has witnessed firsthand the insidious onset of Lenny’s dementia, that he is eventually taken to hospital. Peter Wight plays Lenny terrifically, showcasing the scope of his acting ability by pivoting from unadulterated fury to heart-rending confusion, doubt and remorse. His performance is matched by a uniformly strong cast, each bringing a nuanced perspective to the moral complexity of the play.

Under Esther Baker’s smart direction, the action moves between the prison cell, the local bar – where Mark and Sonya share a bottle of wine on a Friday – the hospital, and ultimately the end-of-life suite. The interplay between warm light and hostile shadows guides us through these transitions effortlessly.

An unexpected bond between Lenny and Mark provides some of the most evocative moments. As Lenny’s grip on time and place fades, Mark comforts him by letting him believe he is his son. With a compassionate, tactile approach – at odds with how he is supposed to conduct himself as a prison guard – Mark learns the contours of Lenny’s recurring memories, knowing it brings him solace in an otherwise disorientating world.

When Lenny’s son visits him in prison and reveals the truth behind his incarceration, our perception of his character, however naïve, is shattered. Yet Mark, convinced that ignorance will allow him to carry out his role without bias, has chosen not to learn why Lenny is serving a life sentence. And it is upon this question that Lifers ultimately hinges: should the treatment of prisoners – especially in the last stages of life – be contingent on the crime they committed?

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The Blurb:

Inside the walls of HMP Drummond, Baxter, Norton and Lenny pass the time with poker, banter, and the kind of gallows humour only lifers can muster.

When Lenny’s body starts to give out, young prison officer Mark keeps an eye on him. What begins as a duty of care becomes an unexpected friendship, exposing the cracks in a system built to punish, not to support.

Darkly funny and unflinchingly honest, Lifers challenges what we think we know about crime, punishment, and redemption. Do some crimes make a second chance impossible? And when the world moves on without you, what does justice really mean?

A compelling look at ageing, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.