Tag: Isla Blair

We had really enjoyed our Friday evening trip to the Bush Theatre the night before, but this play at the Hampstead left us cold.

At that time, we were having a shocking run at the Hampstead – so much so that we started to lose faith in the place – revived of course when the Edward Hall era turned the place around.

The critics were harsh on the play and the place:

• this piece by  John Morrison in the Guardian suggests a Hampstead coup – parodying the subject matter of the play – the attempted coup against Mikhail Gorbachev;
• Lynn Gardner’s actual review in the same paper gave a rare one star – here;
• Howard Loxton in the British Theatre Guide was a little kinder, not much – here;
• Dominic Cavendish in the Telegraph didn’t like it either – here;
• The Ham and High praises the casting of genuine couple Julian Glover and Isla Blair as the famous Russian couple – here;
• Ian Shuttleworth concurs – the problem is the play not the cast – here.

We stuck it out, if I remember correctly, hoping for a more interesting second half. Marginally more interesting but in truth the play really was a lemon.