Reader Reviews
Aristocrats (Lyttelton (National Theatre), West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | I don't understand the comments from some of the reviewers. And people leaving early? It's beyond me. What a wonderful play, moving from laugh-out-loud funny to heartbreaking in one sentence. The acting was excellent throughout, with of course Andrew Scott as Casimir the real stand-out. I'm hoping to see it again before it finishes. - 81.138.55.224) | 25 Aug 05 |
| The production is better than the play. Andrew Scott particularly is excellent as is Tom McDonald. But the play is rather simplistic. - 82.69.37.108) | 17 Aug 05 |
| Yeesh! Can I have my 45 mins back? In decades of theatregoing, and as an entertainer myself, I have only ever walked out of half a dozen plays. But when I start to think, "I could be paying bills at home", I know it's time to go. This was slow, monotonous, boring. I left at the first scene change, and even that was later than I would have liked. A great disappointment, for Friel is a genius and I loved "Translations". - 81.101.67.155) | 25 Jul 05 |
| Really enjoyed this. The acting is almost uniformly excellent and the set pretty damn good. However for me it was the play that stood out. Calm, subtle and powerful. A wonderful and much deserved revival, the NT deserves much praise in its choice. maybe its because I really enjoy Checkov but I found the entire evening utterly compelling. - 62.252.0.10) | 14 Jul 05 |
| Very good "reversal of fortunes" play. Gina McKee is excellent and Andrew Scott fantastic. Others, including some household names, didn't really convince though. A revival that has plenty to say about family, tradition and money. - 193.114.91.245) | 14 Jul 05 |
| 'Checkovian' seems to have become a synonym for 'boring'. I should have left before the play started, after reading the writer's diary extracts in the programme describing how difficult it was to write - it was much more difficult to watch. It's pretentious, introspective and dull beyond belief. The first half was the longest 90 minutes of my life. Brian Friel is without doubt the most over-rated living playwright. What on earth do those that liked it get enjoyment from? Watching paint dry would be seriously over-exciting by comparison. - 81.136.192.34) | 14 Jul 05 |
| Wonderful production. It skillfully exposes the disintergation of this dysfunctional family with heart-breaking detail. Worth seeing for Andrew Scott's performance alone - he's truly incredible. - 86.131.12.215) | 13 Jul 05 |
| I found this dull, uninvolving and unevenly paced. There are some okay performances but one or two indifferent ones and one real stinker. The set is horrible and imbalanced and overall the whole thing looked a bit lost on the Lyttleton stage. Very disappointing. - 194.82.50.2) | 13 Jul 05 |
| Excellent play and this fine cast excell. - 195.93.21.101) | 09 Jul 05 |
| Not horrible, just not very good either. Lots of speechifying, but little drama; it could almost work as a radio play. Nice performances from the cast can't rescue this from the level of humdrum. - 86.129.113.134) | 09 Jul 05 |
| Very Good Production,Dervla Kirwan and Gina Mckee are incredible and I will just have to go back and see it again. - 195.93.21.101) | 09 Jul 05 |
