Ruthless at Arches Lane Theatre Review
Emily Swain in Ruthless The Musical. Photo by Roger Steinmann.
Written by Cathie for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Champagne, caviar and luxury yachts by multimillionaire islands, what could possibly go wrong? Quite a lot, actually. Few don’t recall the infamous 2008 Bernie Madoff scandal, with the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time and cementing Madoff’s place as one of the most formidable financial con men in history. Most of the subsequent news furore and scandal focused on Bernie Madoff, but director, writer and producer Roger Steinmann concentrates on the question of what happened to Ruth Madoff, Bernie’s childhood sweetheart and wife of 60 years.
In wonderful news, the former Turbine Theatre in Battersea has been resurrected as the Arches Theatre, which is where this play takes place. The set, designed by Charlie San Myint, is stark yet effective. We see very little of Ruth’s life, but the shrunken world of her apartment is dominated by oil portraits of her family, highlighting how reclusive and damaged she became in the aftermath of the scandal and the death of her two sons—one from suicide and the other from aggressive cancer.
The play begins with a fictionalised version of Ruth slowly dying, then zips back to the past to reveal the scandals and subsequent tragedies that unfold around her. As the audience, we are left to explore Ruth after the fall. How did she react after being consumed by grief, outliving her entire family, including her husband and children, as well as going from one of the world’s richest women to seemingly bankrupt overnight? We are then transported to 2021, where Ruth finds herself alone in her Manhattan apartment. Emily Swain portrays a sincere and multi-layered Ruth, flitting between manic laughter and a tenuous grip on reality, feeling completely devastated by events, and engaging in shrewd scheming and manipulation of others. She is mostly on stage alone, aside from a brief interlude with Evan Emmanuel as two different pizza delivery men.
This is clearly a passion project for all involved, not just from the earnest performance of Emily Swain but also in the level of detail provided on their website surrounding the scandal (https://www.ruthless.theater/links-madoff-general).
The tone is, however, rather unsure of itself, seesawing between jovial comedy and dour depression. Part of this may be due to its translation from the original Swiss German in which Steinmann wrote it, as it contains some jokes and phrases that resonate better in German than in English. It also seems conflicted about whether to portray Ruth as a fully aware narcissist bully involved in the scheme or as a broken, naive woman who doesn’t grasp societal norms, flashing painfully between the two. Furthermore, this show is evidently written from a male perspective, marking Ruth as seemingly lost, bereft, and completely lacking agency unless she focuses all her attention and effort on a man, whether her husband, sons, or the polite pizza man. This play is certainly intriguing and holds potential; with further polishing and balancing of the tone and script, it could truly shine.
Whether you see this story as a sympathetic tragedy, revel in the pain the Madoff family experienced following the scandal, as many in the audience discussed afterwards, or if you enjoy short plays based on real events, then this is the show for you.
Ruthless at Arches Lane Theatre until 29 June.
★★★
