1.17am or until the words run out | Finborough Theatre

Grief and all of its layered complexities are laid bare in this captivating two-hander which focuses upon how a loved one’s death can erode those left behind. 

1.17am, or until the words run out stays exclusively in the claustrophobic bedroom of Charlie, whose untimely passing pushes younger sister Katie (Catherine Ashdown) to breaking point. Huddled up among his things, organising them ahead of the impending removal lorry, Katie is left reconciling with her sibling’s death when estranged best friend Roni (Eileen Duffy) arrives. The awkward reunion never quite succeeds as home truths are laid bare between the pair, especially when it comes to their respective relationships with Charlie. 

Ashdown’s portrayal of Katie, completely overwhelmed with her grief, is captivating, in a delivery where the monotony of the opening few exchanges spotlights the sheer sense of gloom that lingers over Katie’s character. This grows into an erraticism summed up in Katie’s exclamation of her loneliness, with Zoe Hunter Gordon’s script an ambitious attempt to pack the various stages of grief into a 75-minute show, which Ashdown does deliver with success, drawing out subtle gestures and expressions under Sarah Stacey’s direction. 

This is contrasted by Duffy’s complex portrayal of Katie’s estranged long-time best friend Roni. Roni’s hookups with Charlie are the cause of the rift between the pair, but more lingers under the surface, and Duffy’s mature characterisation helps to reiterate how the landscape has shifted for Roni in the wake of Charlie’s death. A subplot regarding a potential abusive relationship provides the piece’s biggest twist which is a little frustratingly too telegraphed, yet Roni’s boiling frustration at Katie does build some tense momentum in the closing moments. 

It is a promising production that does lend itself nicely to the Finborough Theatre’s intimate space. Charlie’s chaotic bed remains unmade, with the rubble of his life scattered around while the two stage walls curve upwards trapping the pair in the room, a neat touch by designer Mim Houghton which doubles down on the claustrophobic sense of the play. 

That said, it is a little too ambitious to really hammer home any of its points fully. Discussions about domestic violence and sexual violence are there but merely steer us towards a too obvious reveal, while the continuous back and forth about living arrangements loops a little too much and stifles what is otherwise a moving look at grief. The piece is better when it digs down into Katie’s loneliness and the way life pauses after a close death, yet it is undermined by some shoehorned-in jokes that wobble its steady foundations. 

Despite the occasional misstep, there is enough in the show to keep it an engrossing, brief, watch. While the words do eventually run out, the thoughts that linger in the show’s aftermath do not. 

1.17am, or until the words run out plays at Finborough Theatre until 07th March 2026 - tickets and more information can be found here.

★★★★☆ (4*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Giulia Ferrando