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The Review - THEATRE by ANDREW WIILIS
Published: 10 January 2008

Thelma Ruby, still going strong

Looking back through Ruby tinted glasses

THAT'S ENTERTAINEMENT
New End Theatre

A QUEER duality surrounded proceedings at the New End theatre on the night of Thelma Ruby’s Revue.
The actress, who has played a host of roles across the genres in her eight decades, walked on stage to the genial applause of her musical compatriot.
Clad in coral pink, she appeared eerily incongruous against a backdrop entirely devoid of colour. Such a harsh, puritanical setting did little to ease ironic tensions, embarrassing our gaudy hostess while drawing attention to her narrative’s frailties.
Ruby is, however, a gifted performer. The framework of ‘Revue’ affords many pitfalls. Marrying theatrical flamboyance with autobiography is a haphazard enterprise, often offering little dramatic reward. But Thelma Ruby is a very rare bird.
While the thread of her theatrical life often appeared wayward, it is her reflections on life around performing that prove the most lucid and entertaining. Not only has she supported Judy Dench and Orson Welles and has the voice to prove it, but she recounts this and all that has passed with wit and verve.
Such personal digressions add a welcome note of caprice to her career reprise. Halfway through her Revue, Ruby asks: “So, what is entertainment?” Despite the subsequent analysis of “entertainment” falling in some way flat, her delivery leaves one in no doubt that she has an inherent understanding of how to entertain.
It is this joyous quality that renders Thelma Ruby an original of distinction.
Until January 13
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