It was the venue as much as the play itself that wowed the critics Agatha Christie’s courtroom drama was revived. The former London County Council building County Hall stunned most of the reviewers and is a major contributor to its continuing popularity with audiences. Some reviews are from the opening, and some coincided with the 2000th performance in early 2024. The cast changes every so often but has so far featured top quality actors.
[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]
Olivia Garrett for the Radio Times (5★) called it ‘a spine-tingling and mesmerising watch which messes with your mind perfectly.’
Michael Billington in The Guardian (4★) said it was ‘imaginatively staged by Lucy Bailey’. Tom Wicker for Time Out (4★) called it ‘a deliciously enjoyable revival’ and praised the director: ‘Bailey plays up the melodrama beautifully’.
Marianka Swain in the Telegraph (4★) described it as ‘pleasingly old-fashioned fare’. She continued, ‘Christie’s bravura twisty plotting is still second to none. Combined with Bailey’s inspired use of an historic location, it’s criminally entertaining.’
TheArtsDesk’s Heather Neill (4★) found herself in ‘a magnificent, atmospheric space, standing in for the Old Bailey.’ The Times’ Clive Davis (4★) agreed, ‘the best reason for seeing Lucy Bailey’s handsome courtroom revival… is the setting itself.’
’the entertainment here lies in the twists and turns of the plot,’ declared Sarah Hemming in The Financial Times (3★) However, ‘The production struggles more in the intimate scenes in legal chambers and falls awkwardly flat in the one episode outside the court’. Henry Hitchins for The Standard (3★) noted, ‘Lucy Bailey’s production relishes the conventions of courtroom drama, not least the emphasis on ritual’ but thought it ‘a bit slow-footed … and lacks a nagging element of mystery.’
Will Longman for LondonTheatre (3★) complained, ‘The audience isn’t given enough to go on, and so there isn’t an air of mystery to this murder.’ Theo Bosanquet at WhatsOnStage (3★) found ‘this Agatha Christie classic still provides twists and gasp-inducing reveals aplenty, even if its melodramatic tendencies somewhat undermine the emotional impact’. He was disappointed that ‘the climax – no spoilers, of course – is action-packed but left me rather cold. It feels like an almost pantomimic finale to what is until then a slow-burning thriller.’
Natasha Tripney reviewing for The Stage (2★) was one of the few reviewers who didn’t like the venue: ‘the sheer size of the room proves cumbersome and exposing’. She wasn’t keen on the production either which she called ‘disappointingly pedestrian’.
Critics’ Average Rating 3.5★
Value rating 47 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price.)
Lucian Msamati and Ben Wishaw in Waiting For Godot
Much excitement surrounded the star casting of Lucian Msamati and Ben Wishaw in a new production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot. The critics were impressed.
[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]
‘This is the best production I’ve ever seen, ‘ declared Nick Curtis in The Standard (4★). Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati bring a potent, tragicomic chemistry,’ he said. Sarah Hemming from The Financial Times (4★) commented, ‘I’ve never seen the play’s dance along the border between artifice and truth so meaningfully executed. Macdonald and his team relish the play’s philosophical brilliance and emotional depth while underscoring its chastening political power.’
Sam Marlowe at The Stage (4★) noted, ‘It’s not, perhaps, a revelatory staging, and its measured pacing demands patience and close attention. But as sensitively handled as it is here, the play is at once tragic, absorbing and oddly comforting’.
The Times‘ Clive Davis (4★) said Msamati and Wishaw are ‘a beautifully paced double act in which the music hall humour is astutely balanced with dizzying glimpses into the existential abyss.’ He confessed, ‘If, like me, you’ve always been sceptical about the grandiose claims made for this play, Macdonald’s revival forces you to listen and learn.’ Wishaw, he said, ‘is in complete command as Vladimir ‘.
Cindy Marcolina for BroadwayWorld (4★) claimed, ‘This Godot is a bitter tragicomic farce, deeply philosophical but also genuinely funny. It becomes a reflection of staggering humanity in its continuous contradictions.’ She offered a qualified recommendation: ‘Go see it, but don’t break the bank in order to.’
Claire Allfree for the Telegraph (4★) ‘MacDonald’s capacious revival offers no new radical insight. Rather its strength lies in its resistance to any specific reading while simultaneously appearing to contain many. This is a Godot as spiritual allegory, as political parable, as absurdist tragic comedy and human cry in the wilderness, a production that seems to drag us too into its dreadful struggle against the dark.’
Time Out’s Andrjez Lukowski (4★) told us ‘The performances are the big thing and here they’re acerbically funny and infinitesimally tender, something backed up by the low key humanity of Macdonald’s production.’
Adam Bloodworth in CityAM (4★) thought ‘Lucian Msamati and Whishaw bring freshness to the leads’. ‘It is thrilling to have the opportunity to study this incomparable and mercurial actor live once again,’ said Fiona Mountford in the i (4★) of Ben Wishaw.
Critics also praised the other actors The Independent’s Alice Saville (4★) said, ‘Jonathan Slinger is as suave as a circus ringleader in the role of enigmatic stranger Pozzo, his cruelties as precise as his pencil-thin moustachio, while as his abused servant Lucky, Tom Edden moves with the wild-eyed stiffness of Charlie Chaplin after a century-long speed bender.’
The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar (3★) was less impressed than the other critics: ‘James Macdonald’s production…seems greater parts comedy than tragedy…The comedy works in itself, and so do the dramatic moments, but the two seem slightly disconnected.’ She described’Rae Smith’s set…is a grey, razed landscape, rising up in the backdrop…It could be a post-apocalyptic landscape, a version of purgatory or the aftermath of war’ .
Critics’ Average Rating 3.9★
Value rating 46 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price.)
Waiting For Godot can be seen at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until 14 December 2024. Buy tickets direct here.
If you’ve seen Waiting For Godot at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, please add your review and rating below
It’s a Mystery why Witness For The Prosecution is a Success. Here are the Clues
★★★
Witness For The Prosecution at County Hall. Photo: Pamela Raith
It’s been on since 2017 but somehow I never quite got round to seeing Witness For The Prosecution. To be honest, there was a little bit of prejudice involved. Partly, much as I enjoy an Agatha Christie novel, I have seen her plays before and found them a little stilted. Secondly, it seemed a bit gimmicky to be presenting the play in the old County Hall. The mystery is, it works. So, I’ve engaged my little grey cells and I think I’ve solved the mystery of why it’s a success.
The first clue is the venue. County Hall, near Waterloo, and by the Thames, is a magnificent building. It was the home of the old London Council. Just entering is a stunning experience. The auditorium for Witness For The Prosecution is the former debating chamber. Consequently, it has very comfortable seating, with a terrific view- you wouldn’t expect anything less for the politicians running the capital city. It’s almost worth going to see the play just to sit in the chamber.
Although you can regard setting the play there as a gimmick, it may be more generous to call it ‘site specific’. The important thing is, it works. That’s partly because the auditorium has the grandeur you associate with the Old Bailey, where most of the play is set, and partly because the layout of the chamber with two sides facing one another matches the adversarial nature of a court case, which is the main subject of the play.
Then there’s the play itself. It starts with a scene in the chambers of a defence barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts. This seems to confirm your worst fears. In 1953, when Agatha Christie wrote Witness For The Prosecution, theatre was changing- it’s the same year that Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot premiered, and three years before John Osborne‘s ‘kitchen sink’ drama Look Back In Anger opened- both of which are being revived in the West End this year, by the way. But the style of this play looks backward rather than forward. The people are middle class, and everyone speaks as they ought to, rather than as they would. The dialogue is like any standard so-called ‘drawing room’ play- or film- from the early part of the century.
Then, we are taken to the criminal court. The place where to this day, they still behave like people from the 1950s, or 1850s even.
The clue here as to why Witness of The Prosecution is a success against the odds is in the talent of the creators of this production, director Lucy Bailey and designer William Dudley, to see the potential for this old building as a setting for a play mainly taking place in a courtroom. Chris Davey’s lighting is pretty impressive too- emphasising drama and contrast.
And the final clue: Agatha Christie herself. Now her characters may be ciphers, in the sense that they exist purely in the service of the twisty legal drama and don’t have a lot of depth, but the plot is grippingly good. It’s not just a clever story full of mystery and twists (although it is) but it’s also supplied with a lot of realistic detail. Ms Christie studied many court cases and had the help of a barrister to make sure the legal details are accurate.
George Jones and Meghan Treadway in Witness For The Prosecution. Photo: Pamela Raith
That helps a lot. But so does her story. We begin with Leonard Vole, a handsome cockerney lad accused of murder. He protests his innocence and we believe him but he is clearly too honest and too naive for his own good. The cast changes every so often but currently George Jones plays him with conviction – sorry, that’s probably an inappropriate word, better to say, ‘convincingly’. Leonard had befriended an older well-off woman who was found dead one evening not long after he had visited her, and it turns out she’s left him her fortune.
It’s a challenge to defend him but Sir Wilfrid, with humour and a degree of arrogant self confidence, decides to take on the case. Oliver Boot nails the role and dominates the stage, as he should. Sir Wilfrid and Leonard’s concerned solicitor Mr Mayhew, played by Ewen Cummins, subsequently discuss the case with condescension, patronising humour, and a dash of misogyny.
And the case goes well. A benign and predictably stuffy judge Mr Justice Wainwright is played by David Killick with authority and a twinkle in his eye, as he watches Sir Wilfrid run rings around the exasperated prosecution lawyer Mr Myers, played by Gyuri Sarossy who keeps bouncing back like a punch drunk fighter. He destroys witness after witness including the forensic scientist Dr Wyatt played by Nicholas Chambers, and the vindictive housekeeper Janet MacKenzie, given an scene stealing turn by Veronica Roberts. Finally, Leonard’s wife appears as a witness for the prosecution and, under oath to tell the truth, demolishes Leonard’s alibi. It’s a bravura performance by Meghan Treadway.
Why has she done this? The second act reveals all. And you realise as twist follows twist just how much Ms Christie has misled you, maybe even taken advantage of your expectations of a traditional ‘drawing room’ play. You see that, dammit, just like the people who meet her character Miss Marple, you’ve underestimated the Queen of Crime.
It turns out to be a very satisfactory evening, well put together, well acted and well produced in a striking venue. Mystery solved.
Witness For The Prosecution can be seen at the County Hall in London for the foreseeable future.
Jo Foster and Leesa Tulley in Why Am I So Single? Photo: Danny Kaan
Why Am I So Single? is the much anticipated follow up by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss to their global phenomenon Six (or should that be SIX?). It arrived at the Garrick Theatre to slightly mixed reviews. All the critics agreed that it was musically strong- perhaps even better than Six– but there was disagreement about the story. Basically, the authors have looked at their own love lives and riffed on various aspects of dating, some light-hearted, some serious, in a not always coherent plot. Judging by the various reviewers’ reactions, it may be that this musical will appeal more to a younger generation (Generation Z?) who have had similar experiences. The stars Leesa Tulley and Jo Foster were widely praised.
[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]
Sarah Crompton at WhatsOnStage (5★) summed up, it’s ‘a fabulous show about two writers who are best friends and are recognisably you, trying to write a successful hit musical, while agonising about their unhappy love lives.’ She was struck by the way ‘its wry tone and its vitality is underpinned by a truthful portrait of just how difficult it is to find love in these modern, confusing times – and by the honesty and the relationship at its heart.’ She concluded, ‘Its hymn to the pleasure of friendship is what tethers its exuberance to the ground and makes it so moving as well as so funny. There are moments when it could be pulled back, and it is marginally long, but once you give it your heart, it holds you.’
Isobel Lewis for the i (4★) was fully on board: ‘Why Am I So Single? has all the conventional trappings of a classic musical: an earworm-stuffed soundtrack, pithy script, sharp choreography from Ellen Kane and dynamic central performances. But it’s also a show that constantly subverts expectations, sneaking in complex ideas about identity, nostalgia and grief alongside the tongue-in-cheek “men are trash” rants.’
The Financial Times’ Sarah Hemming (4★) wrote, ‘It’s wickedly self-referential and completely daft’, and said, ‘the show has so much effervescent joy, and is delivered with such energy and heart by Foster, Tulley and the terrific ensemble, that it’s irresistible’.
The Stage’s Holly O’Mahony (4★) called it ‘a whip-smart musical comedy’, saying ‘The show’s deft brilliance is in the lyrics of its songs. Eight Dates, about the brutal ghostings and last-minute cancellations rife in online dating, bottles the phenomenon superbly’.
The Standard’s Nick Curtis (4★) compared it to Six and found it ‘just as quirky and surprising and almost as good.’ He decided, ‘This zesty, in-jokey, crackerjack entertainment proves they’re certainly not one-hit wonders.’
Marianka Swain for LondonTheatre (4★), calling it a ‘more ambitious but still blisteringly entertaining second collaboration’, said it was, ‘a production packed with knowing winks to the audience: fourth-wall-breaking asides, quips about the structure of the show itself, and, happily for musical theatre geeks, tons of stagey references.’
Nancy Durrant writing for The Observer (4★) called it ‘A joy’ and said, ‘The writing is pin-sharp; stuffed with pop culture references, from Tracey Emin’s bed to LinkedIn, it pulls you up repeatedly with its intelligence and wit as Nancy (Leesa Tulley, exuding warmth) and Oliver (Jo Foster, hugely charismatic, with an astonishing voice), try to work out what’s wrong with them’.
Not all the veteran critics were alienated. The Times’ Clive Davis (4★) said, ‘there’s so much inventiveness on display This show is a laugh-a-minute feast.’
Laura Rutkowski for the Radio Times (4★) wrote,’Yes, there are the big, outrageous musical numbers full of hilarious double entendres that make you want to just get up there and dance right alongside the cast, but it also touches upon queerness, shame, rejection, and loss in ways that feel representative and not tokenistic. Such was her enthusiasm that she declared, ‘I defy anyone not to have a massively enjoyable time at this musical. It’s uplifting, hilarious, and creative’. A few critics took up her challenge…
Arifa Akbar in The Guardian (3★) loved the score. ‘Moss and Marlow are without doubt the most talented musical songwriters out there,’ she declared. ‘What elevates the production is the score: every song is a powerhouse’. She was less keen on the story: ‘the first half about dating woes feels old hat as Bridget Jones, in spirit.‘ Taking the opposite view to The Stage’s reviewer, she found ‘The power of the drama hits in the second half as the characters become more vulnerable and intimate’.
‘Sweeter and frothier than pink prosecco, Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’s new musical is squarely aimed at the girls, gays and theys,’ said Alice Saville in The Independent (3★). ‘Marlow and Moss are talents to be reckoned with, when they find a story that’s really worth telling.’ She concluded, ‘The first half erupts like a shaken bottle of prosecco, fizzing and flowing with astute hit after hit. And while the show flattens in the second, it’s still, quite probably, the defining musical of the dating-app age.’
Time Outs’ Andrjez Lukowski (3★) described it as ‘an endearingly quirky but preposterously self-indulgent parade of set-piece musical numbers with about three minutes of actual story in between.’ His review ended: ‘Good tunes, good cheer and good vibes from Moss’s larky, energetic direction – that makes extremely imaginative use of the ensemble – mean it all goes down quite agreeably. But ultimately Moss and Marlow’s rambling tribute to their own friendship seems unlikely to have the staying power of its predecessor: a curio, not a classic.
Gary Naylor on The Arts Desk (3★) explored the target audience: ‘Some will ache with recognition, as Oliver and Nancy dig deeper in deeper into their own psyches… Others will wonder how these two twenty-somethings can afford their lifestyles, why exactly Oliver! is their favourite musical and why they stick to amateur therapy when there are so many professionals out there.’
Dominic Maxwell in The Sunday Times (2★) offered the most damning review: ‘A bit of satire about modern dating mores gets us so far but beyond that the duo are soon staring inwards and repeating themselves. With jokes, with intelligence, with tunes. All of which would be enough for a one-act trifle, but stretches patience over a show that’s almost as long as Les Misérables.’
Variety doesn’t award stars but its reviewer David Benedict called it ‘fatally slack’, and said, ‘the target Gen-Z audience … might decide to go to a West End musical to see their lives reflected. But where “Six” long ago crossed over from the youth market to ticket-buyers of all ages, “Why Am I So Single?” riskily lacks appeal beyond its target audience.’
Critics’ Average Rating 3.6★
Value rating 40 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price.)
Why Am I So Single? can be seen at the Garrick Theatre until 13 February 2025. Buy tickets direct here.
If you’ve seen Why Am I So Single? at the Garrick Theatre, please add your review and rating below
Mary Bridget Davies in A Night With Janis Joplin. Photo: Danny Kaan
For music fans of a certain age, the legendary Janis Joplin, who died far too young, holds a special place. They should enjoy A Night With Janis Joplin which most critics heralded as an excellent (albeit slightly too loud) concert, thanks to an ‘uncanny’ performance from Mary Bridget Davies. However, the telling of her life story was criticised by many as being too thin and too vanilla. (Sharon Sexton appears instead of Ms Davies at selected performances.)
[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]
Charlotte Vickers at WhatsOnStage (4★) was not too concerned that there was ‘very little plot to keep the narrative going’, she was swept along by ‘the power of the performances, and the dedication of the production to making the night with Janis Joplin real.’
Adam Bloodworth for CityAM (4★) felt ‘A Night with Janis Joplin is best when it feels like a proper gig.’ He protested ‘It’s too loud’ but ‘Otherwise, this is a commendably raw ode to a legend.’
Will Hodgkinson reviewing for The Times (3★) found ‘Mary Bridget Davies’s embodiment of all things Janis for this cabaret-style show was uncanny’, but thought it an ‘entertaining but slight show in which such a wild spirit as Joplin proves an ill fit for the clean-cut constraints of the jukebox musical format.’
Franco Milazzo from BroadwayWorld (3★) liked Mary Bridget Davies’ performance but was unimpressed by the show: ‘at times, it feels that this show was created not to tour theatres than to provide cruise ship diners with some aural entertainment.’
Helen Hawkins at TheArtsDesk (3★) commented, ‘As a concert, it’s top-notch; as a theatrical piece about its subject, it could do with a stronger structure and a less forgiving spotlight’. She too praised the star: ‘It’s when Davies unleashes her phenomenal voice that the show really lives up to expectations.’
Matt Wolf for LondonTheatre (3★) said, ‘Davies is a wonder, even if the woman she is playing remains largely a cipher right through to the end.’
Paul Vale in The Stage (3★) described the show as ‘less a fully fledged musical than an immaculately performed tribute act’.
It may be fortunate for the rating, that Nick Curtis’ review in The Standard is not rated. He described the show as ‘a star performance in a shoddy vehicle’ and concluded ‘the overall effect is hollow’.
The Real Thing at the Old Vic Theatre. Photo: Manuel Harlan
Tom Stoppard’s classic play returns to the Old Vic and becomes the first critical hit of the autumn. The praise was not quite universal and some reviewers were less impressed by Stoppard’s clever script than others, but the quality of acting and Max Webster’s production carried the day for nearly all. The play within a play structure examines the meaning of love, and drama as a way of conveying it.
[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]
Time Out’s Andrzej Lukowski (4★) described the play as ‘a dazzlingly arch exploration of performative identity’. He said ‘Max Webster’s production is direct and accessible’ but is convinced, ‘this absolutely would not work without McArdle, whose combination of louche intellectualism, ebullient physicality and startling inner seriousness is just perfect – he plays the complicated role like some sort of esoteric string instrument.’
Nick Curtis in The Standard (4★) wrote, ‘It’s impossible not to be carried away by the brio of the whole thing, though: the way the plays-within-the-play inform mesh and overlap; the joyous relish of words; the potent, romantic yearning at the core for something pure. Here, a script is famously likened to a cricket bat, engineered to send the ball of an idea soaring without apparent effort. The Real Thing is such a play, and Webster and his cast play a blinder with it.’
The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar (4★) found it ‘Artfully directed by Max Webster, with wonderful long-shadowed lighting by Richard Howell and a poppy soundtrack, the drama’s artifice is playfully exposed, maybe even sent up’ ‘at this drama’s heart is a timeless study of passion and art that 40 years on remains…exquisitely intact.’
Dominic Maxwell in The Times (4★) proposed The Real Thing as ‘the greatest Stoppard, the one that best blends formal audacity with wondrous wit and, crucially, extraordinary emotional acuity. Yet it took me a while to succumb to Max Webster’s slightly skittish production, acted out, in Peter McKintosh’s design, in a rectangle of creamy furnishings amid a sea of royal blue.’ He ended, ‘The longer it goes on, the more this production finds a plangent tone where the witty, the wise and the wounded are forever colliding.’
Marian Swain for LondonTheatre (4★) praised the director and the stars: ‘Webster beautifully punctuates his production with pop music’… ‘McArdle finds an effective balance between making Henry a facetious, maddening hypocrite and a surprisingly vulnerable romantic’ … ‘the excellent Bel Powley adds depth and fire to Annie’. She concluded, ‘the passionate performances help to counter the charge that Stoppard is merely a “clever” writer. Listen to McArdle’s Henry confess his intimate truth that “knowing, being known” is the most exquisite joy of love, and you discover that the playwright’s much-vaunted articulacy is in service of a beating heart.’
Steve Dinneen for CityAM (4★) was enamoured: ‘sometimes it’s fun to simply watch a master expertly place one word before the next in an order that frequently takes your breath away.’
Sarah Hemming writing in the Financial Times (4★) lavished praise on all aspects of the production: ‘Stage managers become part of the action, rushing to rearrange Peter McKintosh’s handsome, electric-blue living room set, as if dressing a display in department store Heal’s. The top-drawer cast bring out both the pithiness and the pain of Stoppard’s script.’
Sarah Crompton at WhatsOnStage (4★) was just as captivated. It was, she said, ‘a sophisticated and enjoyable revival of a play that still, beneath its beautiful veneer of humour, has the heft to raise troubling and endlessly fascinating questions about the state of the human heart and how we describe it.’ She too paid tribute to its star: ‘At its heart is a sensational performance from James McArdle’.
The Observer‘s Susannah Clapp (3★) found it ‘A word-spinning, form-crunching demonstration of the way the real and the pretend spin around each other in the theatre’ and thought ‘James McArdle is compelling in oration and in his unravelling.’
The Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish (3 ★) thought it was ‘Admirable and cleverly engaging, but not wholly loveable.’ He commented, ‘while Max Webster’s production delivers consummate style… its emotional substance is more uneven.’
Alice Saville for The Independent (3★) both liked and disliked the play: ‘there’s something resolutely unfashionable about its spectacle of adulterous middle-class couples being beastly to each other in beige living rooms. It’s Stoppard being his most brilliant, most infuriating self’. She was impressed by the lead actor: ‘James McArdle is fantastically eloquent in the central role of Henry’
Fiona Mountford for the i (3★) wasn’t keen, describing it as ‘a strongly cast revival of Tom Stoppard’s wordy but hollow 1982 rumination upon real life versus fiction, fidelity against infidelity. For all the play’s flaws, James McCardle and …Bel Powley are terrific in the leading roles.’ ‘On it goes, slick but arid and when it ends it’s a challenge to know what we’re meant to take away from it.’
Sam Marlowe for The Stage (3★) found much to admire but ‘None of it seems to matter very much. But clever? Of course.’
Gary Naylor at BroadwayWorld (2★) was not impressed at all: ‘the play I witnessed seemed barely worthy of praise, never mind the avalanche of plaudits that have come its way since its premiere 42 years ago and consequent to its many revivals since. Had I missed something? In pooh-poohing the assessments of so many fine judges, was I just being a bear of very little brain? Or had this soapy tale (albeit with longer words, but almost as much shouting) merely outlived its utility? Probably a bit of all three.’
Critics’ Average Rating 3.5★
Value rating 54 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price.)
Death of England: Closing Time. Photo: Helen Murray
Closing Time is the final part of the Death of England trilogy which began with Michael and then Delroy. It features Sharon Duncan-Brewster and Erin Doherty as Delroy’s black mother and white girlfriend respectively in an emotional but also funny drama that explores race in Britain today. Currently, all three are performing at @sohoplace and, as The Telegraph said, the trilogy together ‘makes for the most layered and satisfyingly complete theatrical experience.’ But how well does Closing Time stand alone?
[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]
Dzifa Benson for the Telegraph (5★) called it ‘a ferocious way to bring the cycle to a close’ and thought ‘what an astounding, kinetic force the pairing of Sharon Duncan-Brewster and Erin Doherty proves to be’.
BroadwayWorld’s Alexander Cohen (4★) proclaimed, ‘The political trumpets ring loud, but the humanity beneath it echoes louder.’ The actors ‘Doherty and Duncan-Brewster conjure combustible humour,’ he said.
Sam Marlowe for The Stage (3★) gave such a good review, it is hard to understand why she didn’t award more stars. She did say the play is ‘at times over-deliberate and unsubtle’ but she praised the acting to the hilt. She explained that the play ‘switches between fervid, direct-address confessionals and confrontational dialogue. Such is the scorching talent of Sharon Duncan-Brewster and Erin Doherty that the solo set pieces are riveting – but the writing reaches its most potent intensity when they interact. The acting is flawless’.
By contrast, Arifa Akbar in The Guardian (3★) had so little to say that was complimentary, it’s a wonder she gave even 3 stars: ‘its emotional power is drowned out by exaggerated and flattening comedy, the women shouting and stomping so their hostility verges on farce…for too long the dialogue wanders aimlessly…the tone is too screamy for the tension to build, and some deliveries are so fast that lines are swallowed’.
Alun Hood at WhatsOnStage (3★) was thankful for ‘the opportunity to watch a pair of actresses of this calibre firing on all cylinders’. However, Duncan-Brewster and Doherty are probably better than what they’ve been given to work with here. The former is fiery, humane and affecting, while the latter finds a bruised, watchful vulnerability beneath all of Carly’s defensive bite. Neither actor hits a false note’. He elaborated his opinion of the play, ‘Closing Time is a captivating, troubling slice of modern British life that feels unsettlingly accurate, if never revelatory.’
Suzy Feay writing for the Financial Times (3★) was even harsher on the writing: ‘There are two skilled, high-octane performances to enjoy here, but with its talk, talk, talk and lack of character development or incident, this doesn’t feel like a play’.
Shifters at the Duke of York’s Theatre. Photo: Craig Fuller
Benedict Lombe‘s Shifters was a huge success from the fringe powerhouse that is the Bush Theatre and has now transferred to the West End. It’s a love story told in flashbacks about two people in Britain, one with Nigerian and the other Congolese heritages. We see their first love and follow them through breakups and reconciliation as their careers burgeon. At the Duke of York’s, some of the audience are on stage to recreate the traverse feel of the Bush production. The critics were universal in their 4 star reviews.
[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]
Tom Wicker writing for The Stage (4★) was one of the few reviewers to attend the West End transfer. He handed out plaudits to the author and the cast: ‘Her brilliant ear for the cadence of their changing lives, including the darker notes, is energising.’ ‘It’s funny, grounded in authenticity and blessed with a pair of leads whose charisma pulls you effortlessly into its bittersweet tenderness.’ He expanded on his praise for the two leads: ‘Heather Agyepong and Tosin Cole, both returning from the original production, make every line sing: they’re hugely funny, but teetering on the edge of heartbreak.’
Fiona Mountford in the i (4★) thought ‘the skill of Lombe and the entire Shifters team (was) to wear tender profundity deceptively lightly.’
Other reviews are from its run at the Bush Theatre.
Nick Curtis in The Standard (4★) called it ‘a pretty-much perfect, bittersweet modern rom-com’. He said, ‘Director Lynette Linton draws achingly subtle, detailed performances from her two leads, which showcase the fine grain of Lombe’s writing.’ Frey Kwa Hawking at WhatsOnStage (4★) declared, ‘It’s a play unafraid to take its time, unfolding with careful tenderness Des and Dre’s drifting apart and coming back together, the feeling of ineffability to them, what happens when it seems to stutter.’
Donald Hutera writing for The Times (4★) was impressed by the two leads, ‘They embody two unpretentiously articulate, passionate, complicated and vulnerable people ineluctably drawn towards each other even when they appear to be most in opposition. Des and Dre’s romance unfolds in a splintered fashion that nevertheless feels satisfying, believable and whole.‘ He ended, ‘Lombe’s touching, emotionally intelligent and contemporary black British love story is itself easy to fall in love with.‘
The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar (4★) said it had ‘real heart, soul and the everyday tragedy of long-lost first loves.’ She observed, ‘Directed by Lynette Linton, the pace at first feels meditative, and this allows the romance to fire up from its depths.’ Anya Ryan for Time Out (4★) said, ‘Lombe is a beautiful, nuanced and soulful writer and this is a romance overflowing with heart.’ She noted, ‘Alex Berry’s set is largely bare but decorated with luminous strip lights that look like lightning bolts and flash in different colours to show a change in the timeline. Standing among them, the actors look like they are part of something astronomical.’
Abbie Grundy for BroadwayWorld (4★) thought ‘Shifters is strongest at its most comedic. It’s here where the audiences fall in love with the characters.‘ and went on to say, ‘Shifters is a poignant piece of theatre. It’s the kind of love story you cannot help but root for and the soul connection many crave, elevated by sharp direction from Lynette Linton and undeniable chemistry from the performers.’ Aleks Sierz, taking a seat at TheArts Desk (4 ), said it was ‘exquisitely written and beautifully acted’.
Kirsten Grant, reviewing for the Telegraph (4★), said, ‘Lombe’s writing, suffused with wit and warmth, is exquisitely poetic at times. She’s at her best in those early scenes where the sharp, quick-fire verbal jousting between Cole’s Dre and Agyepong’s Des fizzes and snaps while revealing something deeper bubbling underneath.’ She was slightly more reserved than some in her praise: ‘At the heart of this drama is the connection between the two leads, at once electric and sweetly endearing. It’s a promising work from an up-and-comer still honing her craft.’
In The Stage‘s (4★) review of the Bush presentation, Holly O’Mahoney said, ‘Lombe delivers a tender, cosmic and cleverly unpredictable love story that will leave you wishing for a sequel.’
Critics’ Average Rating 4.0★
Value rating 62 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price.)
The Years at The Almeida Theatre. Photo credit: Ali Wright
The Years, based on Annie Ernaux’s autobiographical book Les Années, features Deborah Findlay, Romola Garai, Gina McKee, Anjli Mohindra and Harmony Rose-Bremner playing the same character at five different stages of her life, as well as the other people they encounter. The play is adapted and directed by Eline Arbo. Sex, like a river, runs through a play that includes much humour and a harrowing abortion scene. The critics were generally impressed by the acting and the way the story was told, but some dissenting reviewers found it didn’t take off. The original Almeida production with the same cast is transferring to the Harold Pinter Theatre on 24 January 2025. Reviews are from the original 2024 production at The Almeida.
[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]
Holly O’Mahony in The Stage (5★) described it as ‘an exploration of womanhood that is as riveting as it is reflective, passionate yet void of sentimentality, and rebelliously sexual from start to finish. It is simultaneously a personal story, a generational one and universal in its depictions of the female experience.’ She said, ‘It’s a woman in her own words, unfiltered, impassioned and sincere.’
The Guardian‘s Arifa Akbar (5★) extolled its many virtues: ‘Wit and whimsy sits alongside darkness and you feel the protagonist’s blackest moments keenly but there is sisterliness, too, as other versions of the woman acknowledge the trauma of the moment’ and ‘While this woman’s life is full of compromise, it is in no way a disappointment. Sexual expression and joy become key across the ages and it is joyous in itself to see this enacted so uninhibitedly on stage.’ She concluded, ‘you feel the passage of time, both in this protagonist’s life and your own. It leaves theoretical questions around history, memory and love in the mind, long after its end. There is so much emotional depth, surprise and theatrical virtuosity here that it holds you rapt across the ages. What an accomplishment.’
Isobel Lewis for The Independent (5★) said, ‘a tapestry of history is weaved, constructing the full, extraordinary image of a life that is, in many ways, totally ordinary. The play captures these contradictions, finding laughter in tragedy and devastating detail in mundanity. It moved me in ways theatre often tries to but rarely achieves.’
Fiona Mountford at the i (5★) told how ‘The five performers mesh together mesmerically; they are all Annie, as Annie, like everyone, is a permanent palimpsest of memories. These superlative two hours make us reflect profoundly upon our own position in, and transition through, this procession of photographs, memories and life stages.’
‘I shall remember The Years for many a theatre season to come,’ declared Matt Wolf for TheArtsDesk (5★). He described how ‘We sense her adolescent awakening, sex and sexual desire a leitmotif throughout, and the way in which age confers wisdom and enlightenment alongside a bewilderment at a younger generation whose shared lexicon may not be available to their elders.’
The Observer‘s Susannah Clapp (5★) was impressed that the production ‘gives new life to the uneasy relationship between page and stage, showing that adaptation can be not simply piggybacking but revelation. Arbo’s reimagining…cleaves open an important piece of literature and makes its significance glow.’ About the cast, she said, ‘these actors make everything count.’
‘With minor reservations, I absolutely loved this,’ said Nick Curtis in the Standard (4★). He expanded, ‘Findlay may be less well known outside theatre circles (despite a strong screen career), but her presence is a guarantee of quality. McKee’s blend of nuance and swagger here made me think she should be the next Doctor Who. Garai is commandingly brilliant. Mohindra and Rose-Bremner are bold and charming. A winner.’ His reservation? ‘It’s yet another play where a writer bangs on about writing and showcases their own impeccable cultural taste’.
Time Out‘s Andrjez Lukowski (4★) thought it was ‘a playful couple of hours, fluidly directed by Albo. There are harrowing moments but it’s also full of humour and humorous interplay.’ He said, ‘the performers are charismatic, fierce, playful’, and observed, ‘none of what we’re seeing is really ‘the past’, ‘the future’ or ‘now’; it’s a human life, which includes all these events equally.’
Dominic Maxwell in The Times (4★) wrote, ‘The longer it goes on, the more joyous it feels, even as it looks decay and obsolescence in the face. Other characters are deliberately sketchy. You leave, though, understanding this woman’s place in the world — and by extension your own — in a new way. It’s a real eye-opener.’
Patrick Marmion in the Mail (4★) was complimentary: ‘Between them, the five women create a frank, unsettling and thoughtful performance that might best be described as a game of cherchez la femme.’
Alun Hood for WhatsOnStage (3★) had mixed feelings about it: ‘I found myself torn between being moved by its female driven authenticity and the consistent vision of one woman navigating seismic times, then utterly frustrated by its elliptical nature. It’s certainly not a good play by any traditional standards, but it has a haunting insistence that can’t be written off.’ He described it as ‘a bewildering mixed bag as a piece of theatre, but it’s strangely magnificent. It’s tremendously self-indulgent, sometimes clumsily staged… but it’s also gamely, sometimes stunningly, performed and full of roaring life.’
Dzifa Benson writing for the Telegraph (3★) found ‘(Arbo’s) reverence for her source material hampers its execution on stage; she doesn’t quite manage to slough off its limitations, which prevents the play from becoming a truly adventurous take on Ernaux’s work. In this production, it’s the acting that saves the day.’
Gary Naylor in BroadwayWorld (3★) was blunter, calling the story ‘a middle class life, one insulated from poverty by money and education, one blessed with friends and family and achievement, but also presented as unfulfilled, paralysed by ennui and hobbled by unsatisfactory men,’ but acknowledged that if you put that aside you might find it ‘a moving and thought-provoking two hours’.
The 39 Steps at the Trafalgar Theatre. Photo: Mark Senior
Patrick Barlow‘s spoof version of the Hitchcock film, itself based on a John Buchan thriller, tells the story of Richard Hannah on the run from German spies and the British police, using minimal props and multiple theatrical effects. At the beginning of the century, it ran in the West End for nine years. It won an Olivier Award for Best Comedy and a couple of Tonys for Best Play and Best Direction during its Broadway run. Although it has hardly changed, this revival has not proved as popular with the critics as one might expect for such a previously successful show. The cast were praised, but the reviews were divided between those who thought the play was a classic farce and those who found it ‘creaky’.
[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]
Marianka Swain, popping up at LondonTheatre (4★), was a fan: ‘Balancing suspense with slapstick, and a cracking yarn with theatrical in-jokes, it’s a welcome piece of thoroughly escapist entertainment.’ ‘One moment you’ll be giggling at the sheer ridiculousness, the next gasping at a surprisingly brilliant coup de théâtre,’ she promised. She praised all the cast, mentioning ‘Safeen Ladha is a hoot as Hannay’s various love interests’.
Alun Hood at WhatsOnStage (4★) liked it a lot, ‘It’s quirky, swift, ingenious and altogether a smashing hour and three quarters in the theatre.’ He explained: ‘It takes a lot of skill to make something look this hilariously ropey, and the show delights in the unashamedly theatrical … It’s inventive and often very silly, but it never sends up the story itself’. The cast were praised, in particular, ‘Maddie Rice is the epitome of somebody with ‘funny bones’.’
CityAM‘s Adam Bloodworth (4★) enthused, ‘The 39 Steps is an homage to the roots of theatre: these skits could have been performed 100 years ago. That they still work today is testament to the power of clowning and physical theatre, without massive technological bells and whistles, to amuse and delight.’
Franco Milazzo’s review for BroadwayWorld (3★) starts well: ‘Patrick Barlow’s parody The 39 Steps creaks and groans in places but still has plenty of laughs’ but ends ‘there’s a dated feel about this play that lacks the audacious physical japery of later stage spoofs like The Play That Goes Wrong.’ Fiona Mountford at i-news (3★) found, ‘Time hangs heavy as one fast-paced escapade hurtles into the next, given that emotional engagement with these characters is vanishingly hard to come by.’
Calling it ‘sluggish and lethargic’, Claire Allfree in the Telegraph (2★) pointed out, ‘Speed, in short, is of the essence. But speed is precisely what’s missing in tour director Nicola Samer’s production’. Dave Fargnoli in The Stage (2★) said, ‘for all the slickness of the staging, this is a creaky piece that displays little love for the source material’.
Chris Wiegand for The Guardian (2★) also thought it didn’t work: ‘Too often you sense the wheels turning instead of losing yourself in the fun. The play should be equal parts thriller, comedy and romance – an ambitious mix – but it doesn’t satisfy on any of those levels.’ He concluded, ‘the result can sometimes feel less like a thrilling race against the clock and more of a garbled rush.’
While his peers compared it unfavourably to The Play That Went Wrong, The Standard’s Nick Curtis (2★) had a different comparison in mind: ‘this revival looks tired compared to successors in a similar vein, most obviously the sublime mini-musical Operation Mincemeat’.
Critics’ Average Rating 2.9★
Value rating 42 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price.)
