Reader Reviews
Speaking in Tongues (Duke of York's Theatre, West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | At last a play to challenge as well as entertain. If you want candyfloss then catch a trite musical (I found Sister Act inane); if you want theatre, beautiful writing and compelling performances then Speaking For Tongues is for you. It's clever and contrived and thought-provoking. The best thing since God of Carnage. I urge all lovers of drama to take up one of the many deals on offer and exercise your brain; enjoy the irony. - Carrie Cohen | 06 Nov 09 |
| To call this play contrived would ennoble it. The writer has nothing to say about marriage or infidelity that a teenager couldn't imagine, and the whole piece is more redolent of a piano exercise than a concert piece. The actors seem to sense that and rarely get out of second gear. The director has tried to rely on that old stalwart - back projection - to liven it up, but really this play isn't good enough to be put on. Not a patch on When the Rain Stops Falling, despite Lucy Cohu's excellent performance. - dgr1 | 05 Nov 09 |
| What the hell was that about? I can see how the overlapping dialogue and split screen effects will have worked in the film version, but on stage it's distracting. The interlocking stories of nine characters gradually unfolds and comes together in an intriguing way but it does not come to a conclusion - it just stops. An interesting attempt at something different but ultimately it failed as a peice of satisfying theatre. - David Baxter | 04 Nov 09 |
| I very much enjoyed Australian playwright Andrew Bovell’s epic ‘When The Rain Stops Falling’ at the Almeida earlier in the year. This one is just as original and intriguing but less satisfying. Again, it’s the structure which impresses. With nine characters played by four actors, it unfolds like a mystery. The first two scenes have the same lines spoken simultaneously by different characters to different counterparts in the same space. It’s all very clever and it’s very well performed and I have nothing but admiration for the producer’s bravery in putting it on in the West End. If you like plays that challenge you, go and see this. - Gareth James | 18 Oct 09 |
| My play of the year - will see it again (and maybe again) - dgjf | 18 Oct 09 |
| Very impressive production. Fascinating play and wonderful acting. - fred | 30 Sep 09 |
| Brilliant, thought-provoking and engaging. So so clever but hilarious and entertaining too. - Sam | 29 Sep 09 |
| I loved the speaking-over-each-other! Very clever device which allowed us to learn a lot about the characters in a short space of time - especially in the very slight differences in what they were saying. Intense, maybe even tough going, but worth it, I think. - anna | 29 Sep 09 |
| It was too complicated, people speaking over eachother, weird story line. I left at the interval. Sorry! - Carly | 29 Sep 09 |
