Reader Reviews
Festen (Lyric Theatre, West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | Festen -Saturday evening 26th March. This play and production was a dissapointment for me after it being recommended and the great reviews it has recieved. An "electrifying" evening in the theatre it wasn't!! The play has been recast and some of the performances were woefully inadequate - Paul Nichols along with other members of the cast were inaudible at times ( I was half way back in the stalls) and lacked projection, many lines being spoken upstage with no allowance for this, consequently many lines were missed and the play seemed full of contradictions and strange motivations, which were not explained. Given the shocking nature of what was exposed at this 60th Bithday Party, the reactions on stage seemed completely unbelievable and inconsistant. Perhaps at the Almeida in a smaller space with the original cast it may have been fabulous but in a bigget space with poor projection obviously something was lost. These long running producions ought to be re -reviewed with cast changes to reflect a more accurate picture of the present standard. I would like to read the play and see what I missed!! - 81.156.105.7) | 29 Mar 05 |
| Hello I saw last night, and i agree very much with the previous reviewer (Lesely). It is not a bad play, but no where as good as the reviews led me to believe. None of the characters really made me feel strongly for him. Good staging though. - 172.200.2.135) | 13 Mar 05 |
| Carole Royle has taken over from Jane Asher and is fabulous - 195.93.21.100) | 08 Mar 05 |
| Terrific theatre, fine acting from ensemble. Paul Nichols and Stephen Moore led a perfect cast. Clever adaptation of comparably excellent film, but 'f-word' grossly overused! - 62.252.0.10) | 01 Mar 05 |
| A gripping study of family gone wrong, well acted and cast... each performer gave it their all. Paul Nicholls, still in my mind wearing that dirty old jumper from his EE days, finally shed it, with a brilliant performance as Christian. He was obviously pleased with himself as we saw him happily skipping down Beak Street at 10.15 with a girlfriend, as we enjoyed a coffee at Bar Italia. Nicely staged, too, but with some moments of cringe, such as when the party goers overact having a good time. Can't wait to see the film version now... but do, go see this. The best play I've seen in a good while - 217.43.119.145) | 06 Feb 05 |
| What a thin piece; unrecognisable from the reviews I'd seen. It appears that, if you have child abuse as the subject matter, you don't have to do very much else to win plaudits. The play made no sense, with inconsistent characters (why, for instance, is Michael said to be banned from the party but then allowed in without another word, and, finally, made a Lodge member?), and an utterly unconvincing ending. What on earth is the father's last speech meant to be? An apology? Hardly: his "it's all you were good for" is clearly the voice of his truth. It doesn't make sense that the mother would suddenly change sides after years of silence. The cast gave it their all (though were of variable quality) but I was also uneasy with the presence of the small child actor on stage: should she be part of such an evening? I wouldn't like my child to be. Clever direction, yes, but what weak material. - 163.1.142.173) | 31 Jan 05 |
| A strange year of theatregoing – by no means vintage, alas – was topped and tailed by two west end plays set at dinner tables. But what a contrast there is between the wetched, empty little piece called Dinner that (dis)graced the west end at the start of 2004 and the sheer brilliance of Festen that I ended the year with two nights ago. I recall moaning here that Dinner was a pitiful, self-important piece of codswallop that had nothing worth saying but said it loudly and with vulgarity masquerading as chicess. Festen, by contrast, has plenty to say yet deploys finesse and sophistication in order to get its message across. The richness of Festen only kicks in after you’ve left the theatre, because only with a little distance can you properly see past the huge central bombshell and reflect usefully on all the little bombshells within – vanity, snobbery, racism – which make this such a powerful critique of a decaying class system that so closely mirrors our own. (For some reason I kept thinking of all those vile apologists for blood sports we keep seeing on the box.) Bravo David Eldridge and Rufus Norris for mounting this exceptional play. I’m so glad I caught up with it at long last. - 82.34.192.109) | 31 Dec 04 |
| Electrifying acting, ingenious design, gripping story. A compelling and disturbing play, really well directed and performed, but not exactly one to take the girlfriend to! But still, a powerful experience. - 81.156.178.164) | 31 Dec 04 |
| Very strong acting and a very moving piece of straight drama. - 195.93.34.11) | 17 Dec 04 |
| Not really sure that this subject matter should be entertaining. It was though and Luke Mably as Christian was tremendous. When he was believed by his horrible family I felt like punching the air so I did get involved. Well written and well produced but fundamentally unpleasant hence the lack of the fifth star. - 193.118.206.221) | 08 Dec 04 |
| Good play,but seems the only one in town with a unreliable cast,I went once Luke Malbay was missing ,second time I went hoping to see a full cast Ruth Millar was mising,tickets at £40 this is just not good enough,as much as I like the play I will not be giving it a third try to see the perf the press did!! 1 of 5 for this reason. - 195.93.34.11) | 25 Nov 04 |
| What to say about this staggering piece of theatre? A true emotional roller-coaster which turned on the most outstanding performances of a particularly fine cast. Luke Mably was excellent as the breaker of secrets. Stephen Moore, outstanding as the Father crushed by revelations. The re-alignments within the group of Family and Friends was Traumatic to watch. Jane Asher was so very good, first loyal and steadfast then borne down by the weight of betrayal. Finally, re-establishing a position within her family. This deserves the chance it has been given on Shaftesbury Avenue. - 194.200.154.253) | 22 Nov 04 |
| A vast disappointment. What looked like a winner with a great cast and a fantastic original source material just fell flat for me. A couple of the performances were below par with Ruth Millar being a particularly inept performance. This screamed out to be longer or to cut a couple of the minor parts and concentrate more on the story and the ramifications. - 62.254.189.98) | 08 Nov 04 |
| Spellbinding. Powerful performances. What the West End was once all about. - 66.32.107.163) | 07 Nov 04 |
| Very disapointed with Festen. I felt that it lacked emotion - especially from Jane Asher. Considering the subject matter I felt it needed something else. Sorry! - 212.158.229.242) | 03 Nov 04 |
| I feel a little guilty giving this only 3 stars but it's only because I saw Jonny Lee Miller in the lead at the astonishing Almeida production and last night the new lead was off so I saw the understudy who may have been nervous but the rythmn was lost. Jane Aher and the supporting cast were superb and it is testament to the power of the piece that it was still one of the best nights out in the West End and I would urge everyone interested in serious theatre to go and hope that the lead is on! - USER: Whatsonstage.com (81.3.119.218) | 05 Oct 04 |
| OMG! just go and see it. This is going to stay with me for some time to come. Its such an amazing play, the best ive seen in ages. all the cast are fantastic especially the two guys playing the leads, and you literally go from laughter to teasr to tension in a blink of an eye. What worried me most was the fact I actually had a glimmer of sympathy to the dad at the end when he was shunned by his family, I quickly shook myself out of it but that to me shows how good an actor he is. This is a play that really draws you in. - USER: Whatsonstage.com (213.122.209.70) | 25 Sep 04 |
| I think you will find that all of the national papers re-reviewed it by their same lead critic who saw it first time around at the Almeida, too, so there's nothing inconsistent with Whatsonstage sending the same critic again. As the review notes, there are changes of both cast and venue, so it's certainly worth finding out from someone who has seen it once already if it's still as good as before. And as someone who has seen it in both places myself, I can attest that both reviews are accurate. - USER: Whatsonstage.com (62.253.64.18) | 25 Sep 04 |
| this is the best theatre I have ever seen. Laughter to tears in the blink of an eye. - USER: Whatsonstage.com (132.185.144.120) | 25 Sep 04 |
| A fantastic production and excellent cast. The best theatre I have seen all year. - USER: Whatsonstage.com (195.157.53.202) | 24 Sep 04 |
| After Mark Shenton's earlier review, would it not have been fairer to send another critic to this transfer so we could see it from another perspective? - USER: Whatsonstage.com (82.43.168.250) | 24 Sep 04 |
