We round up the reviews for Amelia Sears’ production of Terence Rattigan’s drama, running at the theatre until the 5th July.
The Guardian: *** “But it is a tender work that leaves you with the picture of a family, fractious certainly, but loving too in their own way – and together until the end. Like so many Rattigan marriages, there are secrets and lies here but underneath there is a love that smoulders.”
The Standard: **** “Rowan, always good at playing arrogant rotters, is absolutely unsparing in his portrayal of Sebastian, a man whose socialist principles rest on a bed of privilege, and whose actions remain unforgiveable even as they become understandable. Price is terrific in a part that’s almost impossible: Lydia is a bright, brisk, heavily-accented ray of sunshine, endlessly loving and giving, even going so far as to encourage her successor in the marital bed.”
Time Out: **** “Production wise it’s classy but not flashy: great accent work, a fine cast who don’t feel they need to pounce on the laughs, beautiful lighting from Bethany Gupwell, Peter Butler’s set dominated by a handsome liquor table so heavily used I started to feel pissed by osmosis.”
Everything Theatre: ***** “Direction from Amelia Sears is, like all great direction, imperceptible. No great concept. No themes writ large. Just the story, told well. Design from Peter Butler is exquisite. A play set in the 1970s comes with inherent style risks, but his cool, minimalist set and fashionable, yet understated costumes are precisely what Rattigan’s text demands.”
All That Dazzles: ***** “A play worthy of its reputation, and a production here worthy of the Orange Tree’s own strong notices, In Praise of Love is a favourite among repertory theatres decades after its premiere, and in Amelia Sears’ powerful production it is so easy to see why. Thematically strong, wryly funny and deeply moving, this is a play I won’t soon forget, and one which will likely encourage myself and other Rattigan newcomers to dig deeper into his catalogue.”
WhatsOnStage: *** “The themes of the play are beautifully held in tension; it’s both full of rich expressions of feeling and of a kind of despair at the passivity and hopelessness of 1970s life, which echoes John Osborne’s dyspeptic view of the British – and feels rather more surprising coming from Rattigan.”
The Stage: **** “Languidly melancholic revival of Terence Rattigan’s story of truth, lies and secret tenderness.”
West End Best Friend: **** “Not just for Rattigan completists, In Praise of Love offers excellent performances in a good production of a tricky play. As the Orange Tree shows us once again, Rattigan has been unfairly written off in the past, and we look forward to further revivals of his work.”
The Reviews Hub: *** “Those who like to discover queer subtexts in Rattigan’s work will enjoy the relationship between Sebastian and Mark, but for most of the play Amelia Sears’ direction is steady, sensibly deciding not to spotlight the period’s sexism when it’s all too clear to see. However, in the play’s bleaker moments, the lights go down and a soundtrack kicks in as if Sears doesn’t trust that the Rattigan’s text is dark enough.”
North West End: **** “This is a rich, emotionally intelligent play that speaks to the quiet complexities of long-term love, loyalty, and self-deception. Beautifully performed and thoughtfully directed, it’s the kind of theatre that doesn’t shout to be heard but leaves you moved and entertained in equal measure.”
Theatre Weekly: *** “Unlike Long Day’s Journey into Night, its American parallel, the most powerful and emotionally compelling scenes of In Praise of Love lie in the nuanced push-and-pull of “s/he doesn’t know I already know.” As a closeted gay playwright in mid-20th-century Britain, Rattigan skilfully crafts his own feelings and perceptions into such contradiction. “
London Theatre 1: **** “Just like life, In Praise of Love is a play to be revisited many times for Rattigan’s impenetrable layering of what it means to be human, of how we define ourselves in matters of love, and for the traumatic events that either derail us, kill us or revive us as we travel along the way.”
British Theatre Guide: “Amelia Sears concentrates attention on the actors, her direction successfully unobtrusive, though Peter Butler’s design tries too hard to make a point with shelves of books on the balcony fronts and high up in the ceiling, every volume white and untitled. They are surreal, and symbolic I suppose of people’s inscrutable façade, but they are unnecessary, but the choice of television set is spot-on for this literary household.”
Broadway World: *** “Despite Sebastian’s arrogance, bluster and eventual vulnerability, the play’s resonance and poignancy comes through Lydia. The loss of her country to Russia has a renewed significance today and her repeated conviction that people matter more than politics punches through as the main message of this considered production.”
To book tickets visit: https://orangetreetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/in-praise-of-love