Reader Reviews
The Knot of the Heart (Almeida Theatre, West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | Gareth James says it all so I don't really need to add anymore other than to say it is, perhaps, the worst play I've seen at the Almeida. Just goes to prove nothing is forever. - rds | 16 Apr 11 |
| There is a lot to admire about The Knot of the Heart but it could not be described as an enjoyable play, which presumably partially explains the rash of 1-star reviews. Much of the story of a heroin addicted children's TV presenter seems implausible but it is equally clear that David Eldridge has researched the subject thoroughly. Also, although the play is superbly acted the three leading characters; Lucy, her enabling mother and her resentful sister, are all equally unlikeable. Apparently the role of Lucy was written especially for Lisa Dillon and although it's good to see her in a part with substance after a series of frivolous types, she fully conveys Lucy's wild mood swings but the voice she has chosen (I hope) to adopt is grating. Kieran Bew provides excellent support as the six men variously helping or destroying Lucy and Michael Attenborouh's direction moves the story along at a good pace. The Knot of the Heart may not be an easy play to watch but it is much more deserving of a West End transfer than Mike Leigh's Ecstasy from Hampstead. - David Baxter | 14 Apr 11 |
| Awful - did the critics see some other show? Cliched writing, nothing to keep attention and characters you just dont care about. - James | 03 Apr 11 |
| Absolutely dire. Cliched characters throughout: the hoodie dealer, the camp gay male nurse, the mother straight out of a BBC sitcom, the buttoned-up lawyer, the spoilt brat TV presenter. The scene at the crisis centre felt like a public information film - the playwright clearly decided to put in everything he'd read about what happens at a refuge, and seems to have forgotten the first rule of drama: show, don't tell. Marcus has it spot on: 'Written for the N1 audience' indeed. - Phil | 30 Mar 11 |
| Very poor, mostly laughably clichéd writing. Would not recommend! - Stan | 22 Mar 11 |
| Though I don’t doubt middle class addiction is a real issue, this play and its characters don’t seem in the slightest bit believable. TV presenter Lucy is on the slippery slope of addiction watched but her surprisingly sympathetic mother Barbara, who herself shows signs of alcoholism. There is a sister, though it’s not clear why her character is there at all. All of the men are played by the same actor – and your point is? This is all played out as ‘designer theatre’ on a slick revolve that takes us relentlessly from one location to another and one room to the next (designer Peter McKintosh). Lucy and her mother are deeply unsympathetic characters who just whine on and on in an enormously irritating way; if they had seemed more real I would have wanted to get out of my seat, give them a slap and tell them to get a grip. For some reason – writing (David Eldridge) and direction (Michael Attenborough), I suppose – normally fine actors like Lisa Dillon and Margot Leicester provide us with flat cardboard characterisations. I’m sure it improved in the second half – they often do! – but I just couldn’t face another 70 minutes of this implausible story full of unbelievable characters. I can’t help but contrast this example of a poor new play with Mogadishu, a great new play at the Lyric Hammersmith. This one’s a premiere league dud. - Gareth James | 20 Mar 11 |
| A shallow unbelievable account of living with a drug addicted chid. clinical and devoid of the true emotion that tears such families apart. Written for the N1 audience - this is how they imagine it must be - it is far worse - Marcus | 20 Mar 11 |
| A brilliant study of dependency and addiction. Lisa Dillon and the rest of the cast deliver a gripping masterclass in acting. A must see. - Elisabeth | 19 Mar 11 |
| 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 |
