This was our first visit to the Finborough for a while. We were pleased to see that the former pub underneath the theatre – which had been a closed down space on our last few visits since covid – is now a trendy Indian restaurant named Yogi’s. One to try…but not tonight.
1.17am is a two-hander, in which two twenty-something young women, Katie & Roni, whose close friendship has been shattered since he untimely death of Katie’s brother, spend a heart-wrenching 75 minutes delving into their shared truths, half-truths, white lies and fantasies.
The play is very well written and well performed by Catherine Ashdown & Eileen Duffy; especially the latter, whose character, Roni, goes on the more challenging emotional journey. The Katie character is irritating at times – the character reminded me of Adrian Scarborough’s character Horace in Kevin Elyot’s the Day I Stood Still – but nevertheless we felt terribly sad for both characters in 1.17am.
Sarah Stacey’s directing is to be commended for making the piece flow so well. The play is a seamless one act play which could become laboured in less capable hands.
Here is a link to the Finborough resources for this play/production. It was previewed last year at Theatre 503 (“The Latchmere” or “Grace Theatre” to old stagers like me) where it understandably got rave reviews.
The production is running at The Finborough until 7 March 2026 – if you read this review in time and you like this sort of thing, we suggest that you book it before it’s too late.