Reader Reviews
Filumena (Almeida Theatre, West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | Robert Jones' set design for Filumena is a beautiful Neapolitan courtyard but it is the only thing remotely Italian about this production. The premise of the former prostitute feigning near-death to persuade her lover to marry her is initially very funny and the attempt to introduce her three sons into the household should be funnier, but it all flounders on a complete lack of Mediterranean passion. Samantha Spiro has been much praised elsewhere but her Filumena reminded me of a Jewish Felicity Kendall and I had to look at the programme to check that Geoffrey Freshwater had not been replaced by Kenneth Cranham as a highly cliched old retainer. Filumena offers a couple of hours of cosy amusement but we have come to expect more than that from the Almeida. - David Baxter | 03 May 12 |
| I first saw Filumena in the West End in 1977 in a Zeffirelli production starring Joan Plowright – though I didn’t really know who Zeffirelli and Plowright were! Samantha Spiro at the Almeida makes a great Filumena and Clive Wood is an excellent Domenico. Robert Jones’ vast set is so realistic it looks fake (all those artificial plants!). Somehow though the play doesn’t seem that good now. There’s an implausibility to the story of a prostitute who ‘goes native’ but never manages to bag her man, even using the parentage of her sons as bait. A good production, but I’m not sure the play has stood the test of time. - Gareth James | 02 May 12 |
| What a wonderful surprise - to walk away from the Almeida with a smile on my face following a play with a happy ending! Brilliant production. Great set - must go back to Italy - excellent casting. - ScotinLondon | 25 Mar 12 |
| I agree with just about everything Michael says in his review. I do think it's a little more entertaining than he suggests, but otherwise, he's dead right. :) - steveatplays | 24 Mar 12 |
| great, warming show - john | 23 Mar 12 |
| Filumena was almost as bad. - coral | 19 Mar 12 |
| Dreadful. The acting, script and direction were all dire - the only thing to be said for it was the set! What on earth were the Almeida doing putting this on in the first place? Staggeringly over acted to the point of becoming a macabre pantomime. Surely black actors deserve to be given better material, which does not patronise or pigeon hole them, than this. And one other thing what was it with the clunky accents? It was an African 'ello 'ello. The incredibly slow response to applaud at the close of the first act tonight was a clear sign of what the audience thought of it. - rds | 21 May 10 |
