Tamsin Greig triumphs Theatre Royal Haymarket

Lindsay Posner’s  production of Terence Rattigan’s play about a woman’s depression and breakdown was well received by the critics. They particularly praised Tamsin Greig  who was said to have brought a rare emotional depth to the leading role of Hester. The show’s transfer from the intimate Ustinov Studio in Bath to the ‘cavernous’ Theatre Royal Haymarket was too much for some, who missed both intimacy and volume.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

5 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

WhatsOnStage‘s Sarah Crompton gave a lot of background to Rattigan’s play which is worth a read in itself. As to this production, ‘Greig makes you feel every ounce of Hester’s desperation as she clings to a man she knows she doesn’t love her and is unable to match the feelings he has unleashed in her. The timing she has honed over years as a comic actress makes her a fine tragedian’. She concluded, ‘It’s a terrific production that reveals the extraordinary power in this slightly old-fashioned play that has outlasted many more modish works.’

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

‘Tamsin Greig is shatteringly good’ said Nick Curtis in The Standard.  ‘Greig perfectly balances how much she reveals of Hester’s inner torment,’ said Olivia Rook at LondonTheatre, Posner directs Rattigan’s play with sensitive precision’.

For Greg Stewart at Theatre Weekly, ‘With Tamsin Greig at its centre, this production is a devastatingly intimate portrait of love, despair, and the quiet agony of emotional isolation. Greig’s portrayal of Hester Collyer is nothing short of beautiful. Known for her deft comic timing and nuanced dramatic work, she brings a raw vulnerability to the role that is both harrowing and magnetic.‘

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

Dave Fargnoli for The Stage found, ‘Tamsin Greig gives a grounded, nuanced performance, finding believable need and vulnerability in a character who is obsessively, pathetically devoted to a man who cannot return her affections. Greig catches every detail with consummate skill, maintaining a facade of brittle politeness that barely conceals her withering disdain.’ He commented, ‘Peter McKintosh’s set is gorgeously gloomy, recreating Hester’s run-down rented apartment in detail.’

Dominic Maxwell complained in The Times ‘I just wish we could hear them better’ (something Olivia Rook at LondonTheatre also mentioned), ‘which is an awful shame because I’ve never seen a Hester whose depression is so tenderly drawn…And Greig’s comic timing is as world-class as ever.’

Alexander Cohen at BroadwayWorld was not impressed: ‘Lindsay Posner’s austere production is almost obsequiously faithful to the text. No high-tech high-gloss spectacles here please…A shame then that the gamble doesn’t quite pay off…Now transferring to a cavernous West End theatre, the audience are relegated to observers peeping in, not guests at the dinner table. Perhaps that is why Tamsin Greig’s performance doesn’t quite hit the mark. …Icy glares directed out to the audience are not enough to convince that she is teetering on the verge of suicide or fill the vast space with groaning melancholy’.

Critics’ average rating 3.7

Value rating 37 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price)

The Deep Blue Sea is at The Theatre Royal Haymarket until 5 September 2025. Buy tickets from the theatre here

If you’ve seen The Deep Blue Sea at the Ustinov Studio or Theatre Royal Haymarket, please add your review and rating below