Nothing new or intersting for this revival, and the actors seemed more concerned with the accent than the language. Just wasn't enough on stage to keep my focus. - Jin
15 Nov 11
Very hard to understand due to the strong Irish accents, and even harder to identify a plot. One of the worst plays I have ever seen. Avoid. - Meike
06 Nov 11
Irish accents incomprehensible. Avoid. - Jonathan Murphy
08 Oct 11
The last play I saw which posed so many problems with impenetrable accents was Men Should Weep. Apparently J.M. Synge's play is full of vivid poetic language but, if so, much of it was lost. I'd never heard of Robert Sheehan; he played Christy Mahon as such an irritating idiot that it was impossible to understand why he was taken up as such a hero by the villagers most of whom were over-played as characatures. There could be no complaints about the two lead actresses though. Niamh Cusack was superb as the rapacious manipulative Widow Quin and Ruth Negga was an unexpectedly fierce and brazen Pegeen even if she is arguably far too beautiful for the role. To be honest I'm not sure if this is meant to be a straight play or a farce as it changed from scene to scene and this production did nothing to convince me that it is a 20th century classic. - David Baxter
07 Oct 11
I wish I could write a proper review, but unfortunately instead of it, I need to write a warning that if, like me, you are not British, you'll probably have real trouble fully understanding the play because of EXTREMELY STRONG Irish accent used, especially by the leading lady. Which is a real pity because the other actors, especially Robert Sheehan and Niamh Cusack, do really fantastic job with their roles. - Wioletta
02 Oct 11
I don't find I can laugh out loud about my poorly worded comment, so I'll clarify. As a fan, of Misfits, I know Ruth Negga is Irish. I meant to say that in the sixth of nine previews, she failed to speak Synge's (County Mayo?) reverse-inflected English as trippingly as fellow-Irish cast members, such as Robert Sheehan and Niamh Cusack. I acknowledge, it doesn't actually matter where any of them is from, she just didn't quite hit the mark as well as other cast members. Sorry. - Steve
29 Sep 11
Superb revival. A thrilling night out. - Joe
28 Sep 11
Terrific production. As others have pointed out, Ruth Negga is Irish (like the rest of the cast). good to see that Robert Sheehan (amazingly in his first theatre role) is even more impressive than in Misfits. - Fred
28 Sep 11
Lol, Steve, Ruth Negga is Irish. Racist much? - Yep
28 Sep 11
Niamh Cusack and Robert Sheehan both give great performances. Robert in particular has great charisma and stage presence and I couldn't help but focus on him throughout. But the decision to use such a strong Irish accent was a bad one. The cast may as well have been speaking in Russian for all I could understand. The direction is quite static, so I was left completely confused as to what was going on at the end of the first act. The second act has a bit more action and I just about understood what was going on. I really wish I had read wikipedia before going so that I at least knew what was going on. They should have subtitles or at least a synopsis in the program! - Steve
25 Sep 11
THIS IS A BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN PLAY! But you would hardly know it from this performance! I missed much of the dialogue ( especially from Ruth Negga trying to do an Irish accent)) though Niamh Cusack and Robert Sheehan are VERY good. What is missing is a bravura all round performance celebrating the wonderful POETRY of the writing. It all needs to be BIGGER and ENJOYED by the cast. I wish the director had nor wasted time on the songs at beginning of each act and concentrated his rehearsal time on the PLAY! But then I did see and hear Siobhan McKenna in over 100 performances when she brought it to London in the sixties. - Freddie
24 Sep 11
Robert Sheehan is utterly compelling in this, and the cast are all round flawless and funny (though Ruth Negga has more work to do getting the accent than her fellow Irish cast members). The pub set is rustic and beautiful, in it's look as well as it's operation, when it turns 360 degrees, for us to see the outside. I simply can't imagine a better production of this play and I thoroughly enjoyed it. - Steve
23 Sep 11
The WOS outing was to a preview and I suspect it will improve as the actors 'bed in' to the parts. There are some terrific performances, Kevin Trainor and Niamh Cusack shine as Shawn Keogh and Widow Quin. The set is excellent as are the songs which open each half. It's a play about the power of storytelling (pre 'Jerusalem')!and how someone can be built up to hero status then dropped like a ton of bricks so has modern relevance. They may need to slow it down a bit as the accents are hard to tune into in places. - KAG
23 Sep 11
Enjoyed the production - however the poetic language needs total mastery of the Irish accent. I normally admire Ruth Negga but she did not seem comfortable with the language / accent - I missed a lot of her dialogue. Robert Sheehan is definitely not just a Misfits one show wonder - he has star quality. - JDSW19
