Reader Reviews
Girl with a Pearl Earring (Haymarket, Theatre Royal, West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | I must disagree with a lot of the reviews here. I really enjoyed this. It was captivating and engaging and gradually reels you in. I was really quite moved and loved the costumes and sets. - martin b | 09 Oct 08 |
| It's OK but a bit flat. The theatre needs to reduce the price of the tickets to fill those empty seats so don't pay too much. The lighting was very cleverly done, especially when Griet first puts on the headress and then at the end on the pearl. - quiller | 09 Oct 08 |
| Had to leave in the interval after one of the longest hours of my life. A painfully inept production with tedious, trite, banal dialogue and performances to match, from the wooden titular character, to Adrian Dunbar who appears to be sleepwalking through every scene. It is a travesty that a West End theatre is promoting such a poor standard - I have seen more polished and accomplished amateur productions. - JW Booth | 04 Oct 08 |
| I haven't read the book or seen the film, which is just as well because the story of Girl With a Pearl Earring is as enigmatic as the painting itself. For two hours nothing definite happens and it is sometimes as exciting as watching paint dry (couldn't resist that). That it just about maintained my interest though is due to some effective charcterisations, including minor players, and exceptional acting. Adrian Dunbar is no better than anything else I have seen him in but luckily the play is as much about the women in his life rather than Vermeer himself. In complete contrast to the review below I thought Kimberley Nixon was remarkably good as Griet. Having only graduated last year, she shone in Cranford alongide Dames Judi and Eileen and here gives a mature and intelligent portrayal of a girl repressed by her religion but discovering her suppressed sexuality. There is no attempt to pretend that the play offers an answer to the question of Griet's true relationship with Vermeer but there's no harm letting an audience come to their own conclusions. - David Baxter | 01 Oct 08 |
| Firstly, the story itself is so dull and inconsequential, it would barely stand up as a subplot in any decent play. The terrible performances by Kimberley Nixon, Jonathan Bailey (both delivering to an annoying, shouty, school play standard) and the painfully dull Adrian Dunbar overshadowed the fantastic Sara Kestelman, Maggie Service , Lesley Vickerage and Flora Spencer-Longhurst. Niall Buggy was excellent as the lecherous Van Ruijven, being the only character of real interest in an utterly boring story. The set still looks like a cheap touring production, a loaded table even losing the will and attempting to throw itself off at one point, and the tinny, recorded music simply added to the tackiness of a play that so badly longs to be high-brow in one of London's most opulent theatres. A horrible show. An uncomfortable, fidgety and ultimately forgettable night out and a complete waste of time and money. - Jake | 30 Sep 08 |
| Watching 'Girl with a pearl earring' on stage left me with a range of emotions. David Joss Buckley's adaptation leads the audience through laughter, tears, and uneasiness (due to the character of Van Ruijven's extreme attraction to Griet). It was noticeable that it was enjoyable for all the ages - there was a range from teenagers to men and women in their 80s. All in all I found it a thoroughly enjoyable evening at the theatre, as did all I spoke to afterwards. - Caitlin Strawford | 30 Sep 08 |
