Reader Reviews
Quartermaine's Terms (Wyndham's Theatre, West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | The play was presented as almost a high comedy which had to work hard to take us into darker areas. In more successful versions it has been , correctly in my view, been done in the opposite way. Rowan A comes with such comic baggage that the audience laughed at his very first twitch in the opening moments, which slightly unnerved me. The others characters took this as their starting point and all played their parts too much for laughs. For this reason the play was far less powerful than the Tv version I remember with Edward Fox and even that was not as good as a superb radio version by the late Michael Williams and Peter Jeffreys. - Geoff | 17 Apr 13 |
| We go to the theatre a lot to see a wide variety of productions. From reviews and because of Rowan A we felt QT would be really good - but it wasn't, it was pointless. Some good acting (esp by Conleth Hill) and very occasionally mildly amusing, but whilst we kept thinking (desperately hoping) that the end would justify the means, it ended without doing so. Rowan A was Mr Bean-like (his v stupid and unfunny character) and so was a disappointment; his portrayal of his character and this production was not at all 'terrific'. Was a waste of £ and effort to get there on time; and boring. - AT | 29 Mar 13 |
| An enjoyable enough production, but not one that was particularly memorable I suspect. Rowan Atkinson, as other reviewers have mentioned, seemed to be reprising Mr Bean crossed with the vicar he played in Four Weddings, complete with nervous tics seen for both. So not necessarily the best showcase for him if he wants to demonstrate an acting range, though certainly a role that was well adapted to his capabilities. A strong ensemble around him though, with Conleth Hill close to upstaging him at several points. - LB | 20 Mar 13 |
| What a disappointment! With the exception of Conleth Hill [who's excellent throughout] I thought that this production plodded along in a rather tired and dull way, with Rowan A totally miscast in his 'star' role - from the front row of the Stalls, it was almost painful to watch RA struggle for almost two and a half hours, as I think he is a brilliant actor generally. - Steve | 26 Feb 13 |
| Richard Eyre's fine revival of Simon Gray's Quartermaine's Terms has been praised for its Chekhovian overtones but it is also reminiscent of Rattigan,being an almost obverse Browning Version. Not much happens in a rather dull first half although that is appropriate for an old fashioned school of English staffed by a collection of oddballs. Gray's trademark wit is much more in evidence after the interval and it is superbly performed by a star-studded cast. I had a teacher for history A-Level who may have had signs of senility as he did not teach us anything for two years which may have been why I didn't find Quartermaine's vagueness remotely charming, but Rowan Atkinson did actually manage to make me feel sorry for him at the end. Although Atkinson has received all the publicity and gets a solo curtain call this is a true ensemble piece but Will Keen and especially Conleth Hill threaten to steal the show. - David Baxter | 08 Feb 13 |
| The entire ensemble cast is excellent, and does right by Simon Gray's memorable play, presenting us it's well-balanced recipe of sadness laced with humour with precision. While Rowan Atkinson's character does seem to mine some of the autistic spectrum traits of Mr Bean, here they are perfectly utilised for tragedy. Conleth Hill is marvellous as Windscape, puffed-up, huffing, reasonable, witty, empathetic and brutal. I liked it slightly better than the most recent of The Browning Versions. - steveatplays | 04 Feb 13 |
| Rather disappointed with this as we had been looking forward to seeing Rowan Atkinson in a serious stage production. He is a very talented actor so quite why he felt he had to recreate his tiresome Mr Bean persona for this role defeats me. According to the programme, this is Simon Gray's favourite play-I can't see why as it lacks any real dramatic momentum. - dch | 30 Jan 13 |
