Stephen Daldry’s production opens at the Noel Coward Theatre, following a successful run at the Young Vic earlier this year. Here’s what critics have said about it…
WhatsOnStage: ***** “It’s as beautiful as it is harrowing, as searingly sad as it is rambunctiously funny, as intellectually rigorous as it is joyously accessible, and as thrillingly entertaining as it is deadly serious.”
Evening Standard: ***** ” I can give The Inheritance no higher praise than to say that I think it would make Forster himself very, very proud.”
The Times: ****** “Watching this two-part, seven-hour saga of modern gay life in New York is like immersing yourself in a great novel. That’s partly because the American playwright Matthew Lopez has created characters who are flawed, fascinating, funny, self-aware and self-destructive in a way more lifelike than theatre normally has the skill or the space to manage.”
Broadway World: ***** ” Part One is technically the perfect play, both in performance and creative decisions. Part Two is grittier, has more of an earthy rawness and is a sensory overload from start to finish. At the end of both of them loud snuffles and tears can be heard from the audience – a lot of them came from me.”
LondonTheatre1: **** “It has to, if anything, to build dramatic tension and then release it. And there aren’t too many of those ‘wow’ moments, making each of them suitably substantial.”
Exeunt Magazine: “The Inheritance has so much affection at its heart and understanding of what it means to be a gay man in this world currently as well as a human being trying to keep hold of love. It’s worth seeing both parts in one day if possible, in a single amazing onslaught. The audience around me literally gasped and sobbed.”
Stage Review: ***** “It is incredibly powerful, hugely emotional, joyful, captivating and heartbreaking.”
There Ought to be Clowns: “though it is led by exceptional lead performances from Kyle Soller and Andrew Burnap as Eric and Toby, Stephen Daldry’s production shines because of its ensemble.”
The Upcoming: ***** “Perhaps the story could have been told in far less time, as some have suggested. However, if one were to have the time, it is precisely the length that allows the feeling of binging on a TV series, which can be simultaneously the attribute and the flaw of the production.”
London Student: ***** “Director Stephen Daldry has perfectly realised the individual characters, their motivations and habits. But the impressive cast is what makes The Inheritance.”
The Inheritance continues to play at the Noel Coward Theatre. To book tickets to part 1 click here, part 2 here or for both parts here.