Starring Douglas Booth, Tony Revolori, Patsy Ferran and Charlotte Lucas, Stephen Karam’s play is brought to the Trafalgar Studios. But what have critics been saying about it?
The Telegraph: **** “Booth, making his West End debut, is supremely gifted with the ability to look full of himself yet gnawed from within by uncertainty.”
The Stage: *** “Tom Attenborough’s production, in which each scene is punctuated by Speech and Debate terminology, doesn’t always flow seamlessly, but the comic set pieces are handled with aplomb, culminating a in a dazzlingly surreal musical sequence that bends all the rules of the form.”
WhatsOnStage: *** “Karam has an excellent ear for the earnestness of teenagers – and for the absurdity within such earnestness.”
Time Out: **** “Speech & Debate feels raw, even unfinished, but it builds to something unexpectedly endearing: a brief burst of solidarity before these three re-enter their own orbits.”
London Theatre1: **** “With sufficient plot twists to keep things interesting, this play is well cast, well performed, and laugh-out- loud funny.”
The Guardian: *** “It’s an engaging play, but ultra-American in its assumption that adolescents are tragically misunderstood.”
Exeunt Magazine: “Speech and Debate is its own piece, with commentary, opinion and interpretation, on the classic story of growing up.”
London Theatre.co.uk: *** “Whilst it lacks the maturity and oblique sophistication of Karam’s 2016 Tony Award-winning play The Humans, it certainly offers an insight into his writing style and knack of exploring wider issues through a more focused lens.”
Broadway World: *** “a verbose, somewhat repetitive and disjointed piece, hitting its talking points more clearly than either emotional beats or cohesive plotting.”
Plays To See.com: *** “As a debut piece, I think Speech & Debate is a promising work, and I expect exciting things in the pipeline from Stephen Karam.”
Speech and Debate continues to play at the Trafalgar Studios until the 1st April. For more information and to book tickets visit ATG Tickets.