This uneasy comedy should be laid to rest

Curtains (Rose Theatre, Kingston) Verdict: Oldie but mouldy

STEPHEN BILL’S 1987 play Curtains is a comedy about euthanasia, in which a family of middle- class Brummies gather for the 86th birthday of their wheelchairbound mum.

They gaily tell her to enjoy her happy day, even though she is racked by spinal arthritis. The only present she wants is an early death.

Like certain of Alan Ayckbourn’s comedies, which it resembles, Curtains has not aged well. Jokes about black immigrants may just have worked in 1987, but they are now an embarrassment.

Lindsay Posner’s direction is respectful to the point of glacial, but the Peter McKintosh set is satisfyingly authentic.

Jonathan Coy raises the tone by playing one of his polite moles — the sort of man who rubs his hands greedily whenever someone mentions a cup of tea — Saskia Reeves plays one of the old woman’s daughters and the cast includes the playwright’s son, Leo Bill.

The politics of euthanasia are crowbarred in and reach no great conclusion. The chief reason for going is archaeological.

How old the recent past can seem. This Thatcher-era piece feels far mouldier than any ancient Greek tragedy.