Te Noel Coward Theatre on St Martin's Lane in the West End seemed familiar. I then found it used to be the Albery Theatre and I'm sure that is where I went with my daughter to see Oliver back around 1979 or 1980. Now owned by Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, it was refurbished in 2006 but is still cramped in the back of house.
The play itself was quite spectacular if not emotionally satisfying. It is staged with technical brilliance, the set is amazing but the ingenious staging somehow overshadows the limitations of the script. The dialogue seems to reflect that by Joseph Mankiewicz from the classic 1950 film, but it does seem quite dated. Director Ivo van Hove has adapted the screenplay for the stage, but it would have been better to give it a more modern update.
However the acting is generally first class. Gillian Anderson as Margot and Lily James as Eve are both very good, but the highlight for me was Monica Dolan as Karen, a theatrical outsider and part time narrator, she delivers a powerful performance. She is well known in our house for her brilliant role as Rosemary Pritchard in W1A and as Mrs Peggy O'Dowd in Vanity Fair. For me she was also excellent as Marion Thorpe in A Very English Scandal. Here she is almost unrecognisable for those roles and her command of the American accent puts others in the shade. She is on the far right in the photo below.
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