ILG Review: ‘Walking Each Other Home’ at The Old Red Lion Playhouse
There is something special about seeing a play like Walking Each Other Home in a room as intimate as The Old Red Lion Playhouse.
You climb the stairs above the pub, leave the noise of Angel behind for a moment, and suddenly you are in the middle of a family story that feels awkward, emotional, funny, painful and very human.
This is not a glossy, over-produced night at the theatre. It is fringe theatre doing what fringe theatre often does best: putting complicated people in a small space and letting the audience sit close enough to feel every silence, every uncomfortable pause and every emotional shift.
Walking Each Other Home, written by Timothy Graves, is a tender and difficult play about fathers, sons, memory, sexuality, care and forgiveness. At the centre of it is Michael, a gay middle-aged man who returns to see his father, Frank, who is living with dementia. Their relationship is not simple. Frank is not an easy man. He can be sharp, prejudiced and hurtful, but he is also vulnerable, confused and clearly slipping away from himself.
That is what makes the play so uncomfortable in a good way. You are not just watching a son visit an ageing parent. You are watching someone come face to face with all the things that were never properly said, never properly healed, and maybe never can be.
Michael’s pain feels real because it is not dramatic in an obvious way. It sits under the surface. He wants to be calm, spiritual and grown-up about everything, but you can still feel the younger version of him in the room — the son who wanted to be accepted, understood and loved properly by his father.
That part really stayed with me.
The play captures something many people will recognise: how quickly family can pull you back into old roles. You can have travelled, changed, built a life, become someone completely different, and then one conversation with a parent can make you feel like a child again.
Frank is a difficult character to sit with, but that is what makes him interesting. At times, I felt frustrated with him. At other moments, I felt sorry for him. The dementia adds another layer because you are left asking uncomfortable questions. How do you hold someone accountable when their memory is failing? What do you do with old hurt when the person who caused it may no longer fully understand it? And how much compassion are you supposed to give someone who did not always give it to you?
The character of Sandeep, Frank’s carer, brings a much-needed warmth and steadiness to the piece. He is not just there to move the story along. He gives the play another emotional angle — someone who understands care, patience and identity in his own way. His presence softens the room without making the play feel sentimental.
What I liked most about Walking Each Other Home is that it does not give easy answers. It does not pretend that family pain can be solved in one neat conversation. It understands that love and resentment can sit next to each other. You can care about someone and still be angry with them. You can want peace and still not know how to forgive.
The Old Red Lion is exactly the right setting for this kind of story. Because the space is so small, there is no distance between you and the emotion. You notice the body language. You feel the awkwardness. You can sense when a line lands heavily in the room. That closeness makes the play feel more personal.
It is also the kind of production that reminds you why local theatre matters. You do not always need a huge stage or expensive set to say something meaningful. Sometimes a few strong performances, honest writing and a small upstairs theatre are enough.
That said, the play does take on a lot. It touches on dementia, sexuality, grief, faith, spirituality, masculinity, prejudice, care and family trauma. At times, I did feel there was a lot going on, and I would have liked a few moments to breathe a little more. Some of the ideas are powerful enough on their own and did not always need to be pushed further.
But I also respected the ambition. It felt like a play with a lot on its mind and a lot in its heart. Even when it felt slightly crowded, it never felt empty. There was always something emotionally honest underneath it.
For me, Walking Each Other Home worked best when it stayed close to the father-son relationship. Those quieter moments — the ones filled with frustration, tenderness, guilt and things left unsaid — were the most affecting. That is where the play felt most truthful.
This is not a light night out, but it is a worthwhile one. It is thoughtful, intimate and emotionally layered. It made me think about parents, ageing, memory, forgiveness and how complicated love can be when the past has not been kind.
Walking Each Other Home is tender, messy, brave and deeply human. It may not be perfect, but it has something real to say — and in a small theatre above a pub in Angel, that feels exactly like the kind of story worth making space for.
ILG verdict: A moving and honest piece of new writing that uses the intimacy of The Old Red Lion beautifully. Thoughtful, emotional and full of difficult truths about family, care and forgiveness.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Best for: lovers of intimate fringe theatre, new writing, LGBTQ+ stories, family drama and emotionally honest performances.
Use promo code ‘HOME’ for discounted tickets for the 8th and 9th May 2026
