Lady on the Barometer

Synopsis

A bustling, chaotic household in working-class Britain, where everyday life collides with symbolic undertones

Donald Howarth’s The Lady on the Barometer brought to life a vivid array of characters in a one-night performance at the Royal Court. The play featured a colourful cast including a honeymooning lorry-driver, an ITV-fan middle-aged bachelor, a grumbling husband with an illiterate wife, and an almost-refined landlady with a vulgar mother. Howarth’s keen ear for realistic, unsentimental working-class comedy shone through in these sharply drawn portrayals.

The play explored themes of marital strain, economic hardship, and the pursuit of happiness in difficult circumstances, offering a poignant commentary on working-class life and the impact of societal pressures on personal relationships.