Reader Reviews
Park Avenue Cat (Arts Theatre, West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | well ive just been to see it for the second time. once with my friends who had a thoroughly enjoyable hour and a bit. The actors are great, especially tessa peak Jones who looks cuddly and most sympathetic to the disfunctional buffoons she's couselling. Gray O brien does angry really well and the other two actors are equally engaging. It isn't hilarious but easy to watch and doesn't ruffle any feathers. We think it's great. only complaint is the price for the tickets is way over the top. The Theatre isn't very grand and I paid £47 a tenner more for a play at the National with rave reviews and more than twice the length. I think they need to drop their prices, they haven't even got scene shifters. The bloke in the youn bloke in the box office is a word i wouldn't say on here and thinks he's someone rather special. Off putting. i give it 5 stars just for the actors and everyone who's making such an effort to ensure it works. If they drop the stupid prices they may get a bigger audience. Stop being so greedy Arts theatre you're just not special enough! - T Stamp | 02 Aug 11 |
| what a fantastic play, why is everyone so down on it,moaning that it's awful, it had everything a tacky set, actors stuggling to give believable performances, doubling up as waiters and pushing the furniture round in semi darkness.Gray obrien in his tont gordon mode bursting blood vessels and the best part was when they all take their bow and look like they've just done a hard days work. wonderful! Will be going back before it comes off. - growler | 31 Jul 11 |
| a simple litte play, easy to watch and no harm to anyone. Actors all good and i say "stop picking on it." i met the writer afterwards and he asked me if i liked it. i said yes, luckily as i didn't even know who he was. good job I didn't say anything bad, i think he's had enough of that. he seemed as inoffensive as his play as he wandered out of the theatre into leicester square as if he was floating on a big fluffy cloud. Good luck to them all.I wish it well. - gk | 31 Jul 11 |
| I dont think it was a master piece, but didn't think it would be. I don't think it deserves the slating it's getting afterall it's harmless enough and has no intention of upsetting anyone, it's hardly controversial. the actors all do a good job and the main reason i went to see it was because i have a crush on gray obrien,his american accent isn't quite as sexy as his own scottish one but it did for me. the scene changes are a bit clumsy but then it gives a sort of homely feel to it. The tickets are too expensive even if it is in the west end and the box office staff aren't very friendly. I think the play would have been far more welcomed if it stayed out of the west end where everyone has ridiculously high expectations.All in all it's not so bad atall. - pookie | 31 Jul 11 |
| Just come back from seeing this, and I liked it. I thought it was funny, short and sweet. Yes, granted one scene change was a bit slow, but otherwise the sets were well done considering such a small stage. - MS | 16 Jul 11 |
| Absolutely awful play but the actors do their best. - fred | 16 Jul 11 |
| Well not the best thing I have seen but definitely not the worse (leave that to 2 of my most boring nights in the theatre--The Fantastiks and Lord of The Rings). This was a light comedy and was amusing and the sets were excellent. Also the cast were good specially the role of Tessa Peake-Jones. As for Josefina Gabrielle--well with those looks, as far as I am concerned she can just walk up and down the stage and I would be happy. The 2 male actors also did well and good to see Gray O'Brien after his Corrie time!!!! - Joe Spiteri | 15 Jul 11 |
| This has be one of the most boring plays ever witten . Seventy pounds down the drain for two seats , we were robbed . It only last one hour twenty minutes , and thats one hour twenty minutes too long . Very DISAPPOINTING , the poster is misleading , as it claims it is a comedy , but what was funny ? The fact we were taken in . This is one to miss , trust me , - Miss ) | 12 Jul 11 |
| I liked the show. I thought the set was amazing and Gray O'Brien does well at hitting his mark. - Theatre Luvvie | 12 Jul 11 |
| Turkey alert! This play is billed as ‘A slinky, sexy new comedy to make you purr…’. Well, there weren’t many laughs, I didn’t find it the slightest bit sexy and purring was the last thing on my mind when I left the Arts Theatre. What was actually on my mind was ‘Give me a drink. Quick!’. To say much about the story would be to spoil it for anyone already committed to or mad enough to go. Suffice to say we’re in LA with a therapist and her client(s) at couples therapy. The lack of laughter was rather embarrassing, such that when a funny line turned up you were inclined to over-compensate with a fit of hysterics. There’s a certain cleverness to Frank Strausser’s idea and the story, but it’s just poorly written. When the clumsiness of the staging engages you more than the play, you know you’re at a turkey. Mark Walters’ set manages to be over-complicated and tacky at the same time (well, he has done a lot of pantos); the scene changes take forever and slow the play down almost as much as the writing does. Even though it was a preview, it wasn’t an early one, yet the show is a bit of a shambles technically. From side stalls seats, you can see things you’re not meant to see (offstage actors, stage hands, bits of other scene sets…). The wrong piece flies in between scenes and then out after the scene has started. A skylight tilts during performance because they forgot to do it / didn’t have time to do it before the scene started (the audience gasped as they thought it was about to fall on the actress). An actress’ exit after a scene change is blocked and we have to watch her navigate a new route. Towards the end there is an odd few minutes when Tessa Peake-Jones is walking around aimlessly. This could be bad staging (director Glen Walford), but my theory is that a sound cue was missed (a phone call) and she was improvising; in which case can we have an Olivier award for Best Cover-Up please? I felt so sorry for the four good actors – Gray O’Brien, Josefina Gabrielle, Daniel Weyman and the aforementioned Tessa Peake-Jones. At the curtain call, their expressions said ‘thank god that’s over’ coupled with ‘oh my god, we’ve got to do this again in 22.5 hours and 7 times a week for 7 weeks’ (well, maybe not…). They have only one more performance to sort out the technical stuff before the critical rottweilers come in, but I can’t see how they will sort out what is frankly a bad play that would have me wincing at the Edinburgh fringe, let alone in the West End. Not even people off the telly can save this. - Gareth James | 07 Jul 11 |
