PPP: Maybe Tomorrow
★★★☆☆ Jolly
Traverse: Tue 14 – Sat 18 Oct 2025
Review by Hugh Simpson
Maybe Tomorrow, by Brian James O’Sullivan and Hannah Jarrett-Scott from Òran Mór at the Traverse, is one of those mini-musicals that A Play, A Pie & A Pint does so well. If it is all a bit inconsequential, it is highly enjoyable.
Sian Silver (Liz Ewing) is an old-fashioned song-and-dance merchant, still treading the boards in an end-of-the-pier show in the unfashionable seaside resort of Sunthorpe. Unfortunately, the audiences fled to Lanzarote years ago, Sinatra Comin’ Atcha isn’t exactly packing them in, and Sian was too old to play her dream role of Annie when the musical was first staged, let alone now.
Liz Ewing in Maybe Tomorrow. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
In a production directed with pace and humour by Lesley Hart, Ewing throws herself into the role. There is a distinctly pantomime-tinged flavour to much of it, with a toilet featuring heavily, some very broad humour and one song in particular that would be very much at home come December.
This is undoubtedly a good thing, of course, and there is no denying that there is a lot of fun to be had. Jarrett-Scott’s book is admittedly a little on the thin side at times, and much of the storyline falls apart under close inspection. The ruminations on regrets and ambition are a little trite, while the ending – genuinely feel good though it is on one level – is confused.
However, there is some depth to it. Sian’s character is carefully enough drawn to convince us why she has stuck it out for so long, and there are some barbs aimed at the music-theatre life.
energy
O’Sullivan’s songs are very fine, with some clever riffing on Annie as well as a couple of impressive original numbers.
Julia Murray provides real energy as Sian’s younger self, even if the interactions between the two Sians do not stand up to close examination. Murray also plays the other roles – a creepy superfan, an uncooperative lighting operator, an unfeeling theatre manager, an exploitative producer – with humour and versatility, and the switches between the characters are handled with some aplomb.
Liz Ewing and Julia Murray in Maybe tomorrow. Pic Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
These transitions are aided greatly by Heather Grace Currie’s excellent design, which balances economy and ambition beautifully. Ross Kirkland’s adaptable lighting design and Ross Nurney’s sound design are also notably strong.
This is the sort of production that some people (mistakenly) tend to imagine all Play, Pie and a Pint productions are like – a musical two-hander that is ultimately rather silly but impossible to dislike.
Running time: One hour (no interval)
Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge St, EH1 2ED
Tuesday 14 – Saturday 18 October 2025
Daily at 1.00 pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
ENDS
