I’m not too sure why we booked this. to be honest.
We had not enjoyed Cardiff East at the National 10+ years earlier, despite the presence of the wonderful (ex NewsRevue) Di Botcher in that play/production.
Small Change is a revival of one of Peter Gill’s earlier plays around similar subject matter. So why we thought we might like another of Peter Gill’s working class Welsh drab-fests I cannot imagine.
Here is a link to the Donmar’s excellent downloadable Study Guide on the production.
Anyway, we didn’t much like it, although it was a less bleak and more lyrical piece than the relentlessly miserable Cardiff East.
- Karen Fricker in Variety – click here – speaks highly of it and explains how Michael Grandage at the Sheffield Crucible rescued Peter Gill’s writing from obscurity;
- Michael Billington in the Guardian really liked it too – click here;
- Dominic Cavendish in The Telegraph also liked it – click here;
- …as did Paul Taylor in The Independent – click here…
…you get the drift. Wonderfully well acted and produced. It was just one of those minimalist pieces that didn’t really float Janie’s or my boat.
