Reader Reviews
Martin Guerre (The Watermill Theatre, Newbury)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | just fantastic!! no more to say! - martin | 03 Sep 07 |
| With the passage of time I had forgotten how much I hated this show first time round. But hearing of the Watermill's revival I thought it was worth another shot. How wrong I was, what a load of twaddle it all is. Just about one tune that sticks, now irritatingly, in the mind. I guess the composers were trying to follow on with their huge success with Les Mis, but this is no Les Mis. There was talk a while ago that Cameron Mackintosh, reluctant to conceed deafeat, was going to revive it with new songs. Well he seems, sensibly, to have let that idea die. I cannot fault the enthusiasm and talent of the cast though who were exemplary with such execrable material. Given the tiny space the director and designer have to work with at the Watermill they did a fantastic job. The Watermill is a wonderfull theatre and even this nonsence cannot dent its huge reputation. Boublil & Schonberg had another disaster recently on Broadway with their equally dire The Pirate Queen. Perhaps it is now time for them to pass the baton on? Let's hope they bury Martin Guerre once and for all! - rds | 01 Sep 07 |
| I think 5 stars is a little over-the-top! It has always been an under-rated show and the Watermill's chamber style suits it, though I'm not sure the actor-musician approach does, perhaps because Craig Revell-Harwood doesn't have the magic touch of John Doyle. At the performance I saw, there was some ragged singing and playing, and the circle seats don't allow you to get as involved. I have only seen Watermill productions before on larger West End stages; at their home base it seems rather cramped. I'd like to see it again in a bigger space and in a better seat. - Gareth James | 05 Aug 07 |
| Fantastic production, well staged in such a tiny theatre. I hope it will tour. - Judith Spencer | 28 Jul 07 |
| As good as it gets. You will not see a better staged show than this outside of the West End. - NKC | 20 Jul 07 |
| Just wonderful! That's all I've got to say really. - eloise | 17 Jul 07 |
