We take a look at what has been said about the West End transfer of Jack Thorne’s play.
Broadway World: **** “Thorne’s magnetic, beckoning dialogues have perfect pitch under Mendes’ meticulous direction. His rehearsal scenes almost have a Renaissance flair to them with their warm lighting (Jon Clark) and grouping of bodies while the Burton-Taylor hotel suite is pervaded by a debauched red and wilting flowers.”
Lost in Theatreland.co.uk: ****** “The resulting shape of The Motive and the Cue is both polished and full-blooded. It’s the grandeur and significance of Shakespeare laid bare. It’s history in the making: process and performance. It’s also a rare and powerful insight into the heart of the question: ‘What a piece of work is man?’ — and of our history’s attempts to answer it.”
Theatre & Tonic: **** “It is Gatiss and Flynn who ultimately lift this work and make it more than a workplace drama; together and apart, they do wonders with Thorne’s script and find their way into the characters’ hearts and minds. Like Gielgud before him, Gatiss is now established as both an actor and director (his latest West End show The Unfriend opens with a new cast next month), Flynn is less well known. That won’t be the case for long.”
Time Out.com: **** “Though it boasts a cast of 16, ‘The Motive and The Cue’ is a two-hander writ large, with multi-hyphenate folk singer and screen star Johnny Flynn taking on Burton’s charismatic, boozy bluster and Mark Gatiss launching himself into a condescending but sensitive Gielgud. Under the direction of Sam Mendes, both are sensational. Flynn wisely never overeggs the trademark Welsh accent, but still manages to remarkably channel the Port Talbot-raised Hollywood star, thrusting his jaw and wearing a white woollen roll neck as if it were armour. Gatiss is just as impressive, his uncanny Gielgud manifesting a man in flux, as a new era of performance threatens to subsume his traditional take on stagecraft. Gatiss’s Gielgud is lonely and lost, but still more than capable of getting one over on the wayward Burton.”
London Theatre.co.uk: *** “It’s a niche, even insular subject matter aimed at a niche audience and it’s hard to say whether it will engage those who are unfamiliar with the cast of characters or indifferent to the nuts and bolts of the rehearsal process. Enjoyment may also depend on one’s tolerance of drunken acting. Sam Mendes’s production is stylish in the way it matches Hollywood glamour with the intellectual rigours of the theatre docudrama-style: time is marked by projections of the days and relevant quotes from Hamlet.”
WhatsOnStage: ***** “These are all deeply human moments, and there is great humanity in Thorne’s writing. You’d expect the play to be Burton’s show. Yet for all Flynn’s intelligent energy, The Motive and the Cue is grounded in Gielgud and in Gatiss’s portrayal of him, which has only gotten better with time.”
The Telegraph: ***** “Two acting titans dazzle in a love-letter to theatre based on the making of Richard Burton and John Gielgud’s Hamlet on Broadway.”
The Arts Desk: **** “Plays about the theatre tend to go down well with audiences. Why wouldn’t they? The danger is that they become too cosy as actors and audience smugly agree on the transcendence of the artform. Jack Thorne’s The Motive and the Cue comes perilously close to falling into that trap, but, in the end, its wider preoccupations with old age, change, and the perils of the new, make it a rewarding and sometimes even challenging evening.”
All That Dazzles: ***** “A play so successful in its exploration of artists that cliches like “a love letter to the theatre” feel both wholly appropriate and woefully inadequate, The Motive and The Cue is the kind of historical drama that will live on and be loved for as long as the fascination with the stars and stages of old can stretch. Bolstered by immaculate work from its leads and a sharp, insightful script, it will likely be a late entry to many end of the year lists for those of us who missed it at the National. Taylor and Burton may have been the Hollywood icons, but it’s Liz, Dick, and John who are setting the West End ablaze.”
West End Best Friend: ***** “Mark Gattiss is a joy to watch. He portrays the wry Gielgud with a rapier wit and a regal air, masking a vulnerability and fear of having peaked too soon. Johnny Flynn is truly perfect as Burton. His accent and manner are so on the nose that it’s easy to believe you are witnessing actual rehearsal footage. He is flawless in his portrayal of the egotistical but insecure Burton as he peacocks around the stage.”
London Unattached.com: “Tuppence Middleton’s Elizabeth Taylor is powerful and self-knowing with an American’s libidinous self-confidence and an emotional intelligence that allows her to help Gielgud find a way to unlock Burton’s interpretation of the role (“He is a miner’s son…he doesn’t understand diffidence”). Middleton captures much of Taylor’s allure in a performance constrained by the supporting nature of the role.”
London Theatre Reviews.co.uk: **** “To someone immersed in the theatre world, all this is fascinating, entertaining and will probably touch more than a chord or two. But exposing the mysteries of the rehearsal room may be of limited interest to others and even seem a bit incestuous. And I fear that the production loses its momentum rather in the final third when the two protagonists form a rapprochement. It is even in danger of falling into clichéd showbiz/Hollywood territory where success is snatched from the jaws of disaster. The fact is that the hatchet of conflict wielded throughout most of the play is far more exhilarating than when the hatchet is finally buried. Fortunately, there is sufficient of the former to ensure that the play is – to sneak in a quotation from Hamlet itself – a very palpable hit.”
London Theatre1: ***** “And magic it definitely is. The clash of these two theatrical greats, along with the glimpse behind the curtain of the creative process makes The Motive and the Cue a perfect production for any lover of theatre to experience.”
Theatre Weekly: ” Sam Mendes and Jack Thorne have together created a brilliant piece of theatre, certainly one that’s fascinating to anyone with an interest in the industry, but equally entertaining for anyone who loves a good story. Watching The Motive and the Cue, we should all be grateful that coin landed the way it did, because it shows us the happenings of the rehearsal room can be just as dramatic as anything happening on stage.”
LouReviews: ***** “This play is rich in both construction and content. For those of us who remember both Gielgud and Burton, it is interesting to see them ‘together’ on stage. For both theatre and film buffs, there is so much to savour and enjoy. For those who know actors, the peep into their craft is delightful.”
Rev Stan’s Theatre Blog: ***** “Thorne’s script is stuffed full of brilliant lines, which are elevated to new heights in Gatiss’s performance as he layers them with subtext. He can be supportive and scathing, soft and sharp, funny and sad in the same tone.”
Fairy Powered Productions: ***** “Although prior knowledge of this subject would be beneficial to fully appreciate this fascinating insight into this volatile relationship, it does not detract from the fact that The Motive and the Cue is an expertly exquisite piece of theatre.”
The Spy in the Stalls: ***** “The writers and performers alike are careful to avoid sentimentality. The result is an exceptionally moving finale. There is satire on the way, and some affectionate mocking of the key players, but the overall feel is of a heartfelt tribute to a golden age of British Theatre.”
The Reviews Hub: **** 1/2 “Thorne intercuts rehearsal scenes with extended, immaculately directed passages from Hamlet. It is a neat way of drawing a parallel between the Prince’s journey towards understanding what he wants, and Burton’s journey towards understanding what kind of Prince he wants to be. It is also a reminder that, for all the wit, drama, and philosophical power in Thorne’s writing, it is in Shakespeare’s genius that generations of actors find new insights.”
The Motive and the Cue continues to play at the Noel Coward Theatre until the 23rd March 2024. To book tickets click here.