Please say they've cut some of the clunky exposition in the opening scenes.
"Does no-one here understand mark-to-market? OK, I'll explain..."
"How many times have we had sex?" "Three. Four if you count the time where..."
(It's not worded exactly like that, I'm sure, but it's not much better.)
I saw the London production last month and enjoyed the central performance of Sam West, and Tom Goodman-Hill and Tim Pigott-Smith both had their moments, and I appreciated the "gimmicks" (which is what they are) because they distracted me from the dullness of the play itself. Sam West delivered the final speech brilliantly, but I couldn't even remember what he said five minutes after the show ended, let alone now. For some reason on the way home all I could think of was a line from
The History Boys - (misquoting again, probably) "It's sheer competence was staggering. It's not even bad, it's just boring."
But I'm aware that nearly everyone who has seen the play completely disagrees with this, so don't let me put you off. I just couldn't see what all the fuss/hype was about.
Updated On: 4/9/10 at 10:02 AM