Reader Reviews
The Night of the Iguana (Lyric Theatre, West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | Very much enjoyed this play, not much really happens but the acting is top notch. Jenny Seagrove is a particular standout. - 86.129.137.22) | 25 Feb 06 |
| We had what looked like the misfortune to see the show on a night when both the Leads (Clare Higgins and Woody Haroldson) were off; but their understudies, Nancy Baldwin and Sean Power, were so well-prepared and solid with their lines and acting business that the evening was a distinct success. A delightful old boy called John Franklin-Robbins made a big impression too. (In fact it looked as though the management were more rattled than anyone, as they made an offer for you to get a ticket refund and also a strange announcement after the curtain had gone up.) The show was lengthy and touched on various themes - loneliness, failure, loss of faith etc - rather than dealing with them. Good performances and top set and costumes, however. We thought it was a very good effort for a commercial production. - 80.3.32.6) | 16 Feb 06 |
| Jenny Seagrove was perfect; Woody Harrleson was only slightly less so. - 70.129.13.127) | 07 Feb 06 |
| the best bit was the thunder and the bare chestd mexican, what was it all about actually? I wish that thunder had come back in the second half. Ms Seagrove and screecher Higgins weren't that great, I wonder how much they've been paid? Are those mexicans illegal immigrants, Bill? - 86.141.70.139) | 24 Jan 06 |
| A very good revival indeed. In many ways this is less intense than many of Tennessee Williams' other plays, but it still packs a punch. The performances are uniformly excellent. The design captures period and place very well. Thanks to Bill Kenwright (again!) for promoting serious drama in the unsubsidised West End. - 81.158.157.148) | 12 Jan 06 |
| Excellent job. It was a classic Tennessee Williams ending where you just feel miserable about the whole thing. All of the main actors did a fine job with the exception of Higgins who I thought was just OK. She was too screachy at times and really didn't seem to add much tension to the relationship between Maxine and Shannon. - 69.228.27.173) | 06 Jan 06 |
| Superb piece of serious theatre given an excellent production with strong performances. If a quality production of a serious play can succeed in the West End like this there is hope for the future of the West End - 212.85.15.76) | 04 Jan 06 |
| I agree with many of the critics that this production lacks the drive and intensity of Richard Eyre's stunning NT staging, but it is still a wonderfully satisfing evening in the theatre. Woody Harrelson's defrocked priest is surprisingly underpowered at times but achieves a sweaty, sexy desperation that is affecting. Clare Higgins once again demonstrates her amazing versatility as Maxine, drawing a truthful and dynamic picture of a woman who's heart is nearly as big as her mouth...a terrific performance. Nice supporting work from Nichola McAuliffe and John Franklyn Robbins but the revelation is Jenny Seagrove, an actress who I have never liked onstage before, but here she catches exactly the grace, warmth,loneliness and innate goodness of the spinster Hannah...the finest thing she has ever done. Well worth seeing. - 195.82.123.181) | 29 Dec 05 |
| The production is much better than the rather lukewarm reviews suggest. The pace isn't sluggish, and the production certainly gets much closer to the Williams spirit than Page's overrated Cat On A Hot Tin Roof from 2001. (Shame about the ugly set, though.) The performances are sound, especially Jenny Seagrove and Clare Higgins. I can't believe no-one's mentioned the amazing transformation Higgins undergoes in the final scene. Serene and radiant here, she gives us a whole new perspective on Maxine which mitigates the earlier bombast. There are intense, moving moments throughout and it's always a treat to hear Williams's witty, vigorous, lyrical language. - 212.85.7.14) | 14 Dec 05 |
| Although this never really catches fire it is a mostly absorbing play for nearly 3 hours. My main problem is with the casting: Woody Harrelson does not capture the depth of Shannon's despair and somtimes seemed to be struggling to remember his lines; perhaps Clare Higgins is too closely associated with tragic roles, her portrayal of an over-sexed widow with shirt unbuttoned to the navel seemed faintly shocking; the under-rated Jenny Seagrove is completely implausible as a dowdy spinster but her performance is so good that you soon forget that. She exceptionally conveys the appaling loneliness and desperation of her situation and her look of desolation at the end will stick in the memory. No more than 3 stars but all credit to Bill Kenwright for offering matinees at an incredible £10 for prime seats. He was rewarded with a very full house. - 62.6.139.13) | 13 Dec 05 |
| Harrelson is a wonderfully charismatic performer. As ever, Clare Higgins is superb. Jenny Seagrove is miscast and memories of Eileen Atkins in the role were not erased. But it's a heavy handed play and so the production drags. - 80.177.231.164) | 10 Dec 05 |
| good set, excellent Nichola McAufliffe but a very dissapointing Clare Higgins who was screeching her lines and at times I felt trying to make the part buigger than it actually was. Good eprformance though from Woody and Jenny but play itself sadly a bit of a bore - 62.6.181.62) | 06 Dec 05 |
| This production, and Clare Higgins, was a disappointment. Higgins is usually superb - she was amazing in Vincent in Brixton - but she was rather miscast as a Tennessee William's volumptous vamp. She relied heavily on shouting - which made for tiring watching. However with Higgins off stage, the scenes between Harrelson and Seagrove were v. well acted. Maybe I'm biased as I absoultely loved the National's atmospheric production of this play - back in 1992. - 198.45.26.20) | 02 Dec 05 |
| Saw this last night, and loved it. All the acting was fantastic, with particular kudos going to Clare Higgins, who brought a real sex appeal and vitality to the part. I also saw her in Death of a Salesman, and going straight to this very different role really shows what a versatile actress she is. My only slight cavil is that Woody Harrelson could have had more magnetism in the role, somehow his appeal didn't quite ring true, though I can't put my finger on why as his acting was superb. Maybe as everybody settles in this will improve. Overall an excellent evening, and a deeply moving play. - 86.138.58.128) | 01 Dec 05 |
| Saw "Ignuana2 last night... the conclusion: overall, it was very good. During the (somewhat slow) first act, I wondered if this 40+ year-old-play would be truly meaningful to modern audiences (and their sensibilities). Yet, by the second, and most certainly the third act, the cast had the audience completely in their hands. Woody Harrelson does an admirable job as the de-frocked minister -- even if he did miss a few lines. The cast standout, however, is Clare Higgins. I saw her recently in Death of a Salesman -- in a radically different role -- yet, again, she was the standout. Damn -- she's good. Attention Dames Maggie and Judi: you got a real competitor right on your heels! - 217.207.99.252) | 30 Nov 05 |
