Superb.
That was my one word log entry for this one, which both of us o indeed remember as superb. We were deep into Neil LaBute back then and might still be if he was still writing plays like this one.
Add to that Almeida quality of production and four fine actors: Rachel Weisz, Paul Rudd, Gretchen Mol and Frederick Weller – it wasn’t going to go wrong. I don’t normally approve of playwrights directing their own work, but Neil LaBute was actually very good at doing the director’s job with his own material.
Here is a link to the Thetaricalia entry.
A rare visit to the Almeida on a Friday for us – it was a bank holiday weekend and we had little else on, so I think this will only have come down to getting good seats for a preview.
Here’s what the critics had to say best part of a week after we had seen it. Charles Spencer was very impressed in The Telegraph:
Shape Spencer Telegraph 1 Jun 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
#Susannah Clapp was less sure, but still heaped praise:
Shape Clapp Observer 3 Jun 2001 The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Our friend Michael Billington was not so sure:
Shape Billington Guardian 31 May 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Indeed, this analytical piece form The Guardian suggest that tis piece divided the critics. The stuff we like best often does:
Shape Guardian analysis 9 Jun 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com