This one was a real disappointment to us.
We had absolutely loved That Face, Polly Stenham’s first play:
We even quite liked Tusk Tusk, her second – although we felt she hadn’t really moved on, we allowed for that “awkward second piece” syndrome:
Now, after nearly four more years, her third, No Quarter. Here is the Royal Court resource for this piece.
Again an upper-middle class drawing room drama – even less promising than the second.
We were at a preview. There was Polly, socialising with her friends and relations, who were there to make sure that the preview was well received by the audience…
…it all seemed aa shame and a waste of talent to us. Perhaps Polly was honing her skills for a TV writing career that will be far more lucrative than the stage…and perhaps to that end she is succeeding.
Here is a link to a search term that finds the (mostly indifferent) reviews.
Indifference summed it up for us too. It was entertaining, there were good lines and vignettes in it. If this had been a young writer’s first play we would have oozed about a promising writer. But this piece was a waste of Polly Stenham’s talent and the talent on show with cast and crew too.
A pity.