SILVER Lining, the new comedy by writer, humorist, presenter and political activist Sandi Toksvig, tells the tale of five extraordinary yet forgotten women who come together one treacherous night to recreate The Great Escape senior citizen style.

On tour at York Theatre Royal from Tuesday, with a cast of Sheila Reid, Rachel Davies, Maggie McCarthy, Joanna Monro, Amanda Walker, Keziah Joseph and Theo Toksvig-Stewart in his professional stage debut, the play is set on one dark and stormy night in the upper day room of the Silver Retirement Home.

Here, five elderly ladies are trading stories of their remarkable lives, but with the storm floods rising and no rescue team in sight, the ladies are faced with the sudden realisation that in order to survive they must do what they have done for their entire lives: do it themselves.

Sheila Reid, most familiar from her television role as Madge in ITV's Benidorm, introduces Silver Lining's roll call of characters. "Well, there are two very different sisters, May and June; a mystery woman; an oddball; and me, playing Gloria; that's the older women in the play, and then there's a young woman and the token, but deliciously token, boy played by Theo in his first stage show. The young women, Keziah's role, is ostensibly coming to rescue us and take us from the home in this terrible storm."

What about Gloria, how would you describe her character, Sheila? "She's hearty, she's wonderful! She had her own pub for 40 years; she loves people, she loves life, but she's got to the point at the beginning of the play where she's actually had enough. Her journey is one of coming back to life, through being reinvigorated by these experiences in the storm," she says. "Gloria has a re-birth, so it's a wonderful part to play."

Sheila is relishing Sandi Toksvig's dialogue, her wit having served her so well in presenting BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz and now as the new host of QI. "Of course it's full of the most wonderful jokes and Sandi knows all her characters so well, so what each of us says is exactly what those characters would say, and they have these wonderful relationships that are very much grounded in reality.

"But it's not just full of jokes; Sandi co-founded the Women’s Equality Party two years ago, and she cares passionately about women's roles in life and how women can be marginalised."

Has Sheila experienced such situations? "I'm afraid I have, so some of the play is near the knuckle, as any part you play, you try to find experiences in your own life to draw on. A lot of the things I have to say ring very true, and as an actor you have to cope with that hurdle, and to play that in such a fully realised form is a delight," she says.

York Press:

Sheila Reid and Keziah Joseph in Silver Lining. Picture: Mark Douet

The "marginalisation of women" in the acting world can be seen in the dearth of roles for women of a certain age and an uncertain stage future, which is another reason for Sheila to champion Sandi's play. "Sandi told us she'd wanted to write a play for older women because we don't often get parts like this to play, and that's fantastic," she says.

"If you ask why roles dry up for older women, I think the answer is that the young are obsessed with the young and they write the most plays, films and TV, so they write about the young. It's true that if you took a survey of who's coming to this play, they'll mostly be 50-plus, but having said that, we've had a lot of young relatives coming to the show and they've really enjoyed it because it's a surprise to them that these elderly women have lived these wonderful and very fulfilling lives."

Sheila has noted how the women in Silver Lining respond to the storm in a way that might well differ from the actions of men in similar situations. "The women face up to the situation by working together as a group when under pressure, with a single goal, all pulling together really well," she says.

"It's interesting because we had a Q and A discussion after one show last week and that was one of the points that came up, when it was suggested men wouldn't pull together so well!"

English Touring Theatre and Rose Theatre, Kingston present Sandi Toksvig's Silver Lining, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm, Thursday, 2pm, and Saturday, 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

Did you know?

Silver Lining's director, Rebecca Gatward, directed productions of The Accrington Pals and Beryl for the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds.