Review Round Up: Love in Idleness, Menier Chocolate Factory

Trevor Nunn directs this revival of Terence Rattigan’s comedy which stars Eve Best, Helen George, Anthony Head and Edward Bluemel. Here is what critics have been saying about it: 

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The Telegraph: **** “not only gripped by its ingenious fusion of domestic tragi-comedy and political debate but ever more seized by the conviction that this work has now entered the canon of must-do Rattigana”

The Guardian: *** “a good evening that, in stitching together two different versions of the same play, shows Rattigan’s capacity to mix genres and combine laughter and pain.”

The Independent: ***** “Nunn has many formidable strengths as a man of the theatre, but lightness of touch never struck me as one before now.”

The Stage: **** “Nunn’s production is played with such pitch-perfect mood and period nuance that it emerges as a scintillating rediscovery.”

WhatsOnStage: ***** “The whole thing is performed with a real sense of period tone and comic timing but also with finely calibrated sense of the powerful emotions at work.”

Evening Standard: *** “The end result, unfortunately, is dismayingly lumpy and uncertain of tone; a strange lurch into farce in the final act makes it seem more Ray Cooney than Terence Rattigan.”

Time Out: *** “It’s a proper masterclass from Best, though I couldn’t help occasionally think she would probably have been equally as good in one of the many, many better Rattigan plays.”

Broadway World.com: **** “Nunn’s hybrid production is a masterful tonal mix.”

Theatre Cat: “It hasn’t the extreme emotional punch of The Deep Blue Sea or Flare Path, but it is in its way a piece of perfection, especially in this careful, loving production.”

London Theatre.co.uk: **** “a lovingly detailed, beautifully acted production”

The Times: *** “There are many things that are excellent about this production, but this rom-com with pretensions of seriousness is too long.”

British Theatre Guide: “Occasionally, all involved seem to be trying a little too hard for laughs but overall, the play loses little in the transformation and should be yet another triumph for the Menier.”

The FT: ***** “The brilliant Best, with a thousand tiny gestures, fleeting expressions and tones, gives the already sparkling dialogue a coruscating force.”

Love in Idleness continues to play at the Menier Chocolate Theatre until the 29th April. For more information and to book tickets visit: https://www.menierchocolatefactory.com/Online/default.asp

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