Reader Reviews
The Member of the Wedding (The Young Vic, Inner London)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | Yes, the play isn't that great. Yes, some of the accents can be a bit hard to decipher. But go now. The main performances are outstanding, and that from Portia, playing the black maid is the best acting I've seen this year. The staging is also excellent, and makes for one of the most moving pieces of theatre I've ever seen. - addicted to theatre | 08 Oct 07 |
| Saw this production this evening. WOW what a blast! I was blown away. I saw the production for free becuase I am studying at a drama school and i thought it was going to be some low-key drab production but i was shocked as soon as i walked into the auditorium. The set was magnificant and as soon as the play began i knew i was in for a treat. The play actually began to remind a bit of "Caroline, or Chnage" which i saw at the National last year, which was also fantastic. What can I say, the deep south just provides fantastic drama for playwrights. - P.R | 02 Oct 07 |
| Great design, good acting all round - yes Flora Spencer-Longhurst is very good although the character started to grate on me during the second half; I felt that some Frankie's transformations, so vivid in the novel, were somewhat lost, and her inconsolable despair when she doesn't get what she yearns for was drained of depth and came across as a mere tantrum. But these gripes were outweighed by the good stuff, including a beautifully realised thunderstorm and a couple of moments of real humid tension. Portia's peformance as Berenice is a standout. - Sycamore Flint | 27 Sep 07 |
| Oops - now I'm inept too, and lost one my stars. - Mikey | 21 Sep 07 |
| Michael Coveney was not in the least venerable with his inempt chairing of an Old Vic Q&A this week, and over at the Young Vic he must have been having a bad chair day too. This highly collectable play contains three not-to-be missed performances which easily warrant 4 stars. Go, before you miss a straight-play highlight of the year. - Mikey | 21 Sep 07 |
| I never give more than four stars, but Flora Spencer-Longhurst's vigourous performance earns the extra one here. The excellent supporting cast are a great scaffold, from which she shines in the role of a child so full of life and questions that she'd diagnosed ADHD and dosed to the eyeballs with ritalin in today's UK. - Gus W | 18 Sep 07 |
| I really enjoyed this show. Saw it in an early preview thanks to an eagle eyed friend. The relationships and reactions of the actors were quite beautiful. The young girl frankie was quite clearly on the verge of adulthood - desperate to get away from her childhood to the seemingly exciting world of adulthood. Who can't relate to that! Maybe it didn't say anything new about the world but what a wonderful evening - i was transported and all the more so because of Robert Innes-Hopkins (a little bit of name checking wouldn't hurt before writing your piece) ddetailed set. - Martin Johnson | 17 Sep 07 |
| The venerable Michael Coveney is way wide of the mark in his review. This was quite simply one of the most powerful and moving performances I've seen at the Young Vic or anywhere else. Flora Spencer-Longhurst nails the mannerisms and emotional volatility of an early teen and the little bloke playing her cousin - in what turns out to be a key role - is destined for quite a future if this performance is anything to go by. The two of them interact wonderfully with the world-weary maid, played to great effect by Portia. They built up quite a rapport with the audience; I'm sure I wasn't the only one with a lump in the throat at the end. I really, really recommend this wonderful piece of theatre. Go see it now! - Simon | 17 Sep 07 |
| The acting of the young newbie Flora Spencer-Longhurst was fantastic. She encapsulated a distressed, young, tomboyish adolescent girl to a tee. Coupled with the young impish lad alongside her they stole the show. Indeed the acting of Portia was wonderful but seeing the two "kids" working so well together really made my evening. Yes, some of the other acting was patchy at best, and the first "half" was overly long but it was a pleasure to watch such a wonderfully sweet and innocent tale, set within a backdrop of such climatic times, with the war raging in Europe and the struggle for Racial equality piquing at the established order in the US. - Lee Irvine | 17 Sep 07 |
| Another great night out at the Young Vic. Member of the Wedding was very enjoyable. A lovely period set is brought to life with excellent performances given by the whole cast especially the from Berenice and Frankie. - Roland | 17 Sep 07 |
