Rose by Martin Sherman

I watched this play last night on Sky Arts and am full of admiration for Maureen Lipman. She was on stage for nearly two and a half hours relating the story of a Jewish woman, born in the Ukraine and subsequently lived in Warsaw, Atlantic City and Florida. Rose has had many tragedies in her life, including her father's death when she was a child and losing her first husband and daughter in Warsaw but somehow manages to overcome them. Fittingly it was broadcast on Holocaust Memorial Day. I urge everyone to see it. How Maureen managed to memorise pages and pages of lines is beyond me. Well done Maureen!

When I started to watch I thought 2 1/2 hours performed by a single actor on a very Jewish subject would be tedious; thank goodness I kept going.

Not only was the story fascinating and covered a huge timeline that I couldn't stop. She delivered a flawless performance of unprompted dialogue, but not only that she lived the story I am completely in awe of anyone who could learn and deliver that amount of dialogue.

I would be surprised if many modern actors could come anywhere close with their 5 minute takes and re-takes.

It is a pity that it took so long to award her Damehood when many folks get awards for just reading the news, or more absurdly, for getting paid obscene salaries for just kicking a ball.

The only comparable piece was "Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell" with Peter O'Toole.