Reader Reviews
Tusk Tusk (Royal Court - Jerwood Theatre, West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | It's probably fair to say that Polly Stenham has mother issues. After the incestuous monster in That Face the mother in Tusk Tusk is entirely absent: absent from the play and absent from the lives of her three children, left abandoned in a grim flat with no food and little money. Despite the heartbreaking scenario Tusk Tusk is frequently very funny, particularly the exchanges between the teenage brother and sister. The performances of the young, inexperienced cast members are astonishing, especially Bel Powley as Maggie (who bears an uncanny resemblance to my daughter's best friend), despite an occasional unintelligibility. However, you never quite forget that they are actors which means you can't totally buy in to the awfulness of their situation. Tusk Tusk is probably an even better play than That Face and Polly Stenham is clearly a remarkable talent but needs to be wary of the risk of becoming a one-trick pony. - David Baxter | 30 Apr 09 |
| Absolutely incredible performance, script, cast, set, everything. Definitely deserves the good reviews it's recieving. - Amy | 22 Apr 09 |
| Terrific performances by all three of the young actors in a gripping production of an impressive play. Hopefully, Polly Stenham will continue to write such excellent work. - fred | 15 Apr 09 |
| Could they not have found child actors? - coral | 10 Apr 09 |
| Quite literally gobsmackingly good. The play itself is dynamite, but the acting by the young leads truly something special, and I use the words very carefully. Best production I have seen for years. - JJE | 07 Apr 09 |
| For the performances of the three young leads alone it would be worth committing a crime to get hold of a ticket for this sell out show. Stunning doesn't do them justice, they are sensational and as it's their stage debuts it is simply amazing. Why they don't take their own curtain call is beyond me because, although they are ably supported by the rest of the cast, this trio really do deserve their own bow. I am sure we will be seeing more of Toby Regbo, Eliot, Bel Powley, Maggie, and the younger of the trio Finn, played by either, and here I can't be sure whom we had tonight, Finn Bennett or Austin Moulton. Polly Stenham has created a dark and deeply disturbing play, but one that still manages to be life reaffirming. It reminds one that what ever life may throw at us we can still survive, even if only by denying the tragedy that may have engulfed us - we can cope, as in this case by Eliots juvenile stiff upper lip. This production really does deserve a West End transfer. - rds | 06 Apr 09 |
