Review Round-Ups

Does Matthew Perry's The End of Longing impress?

The ”Friends” star’s play divided the critics at the Playhouse Theatre

Michael Coveney, WhatsOnStage

★★★★

"The writing is wired, raw, politically incorrect and very funny, and it's given a sharp kick in the goolies by some superb performances from all four actors in Lindsay Posner's shrewd, on-the-nose production."

"It's unusual to find a comedy so finely wrought from personal scar tissue. The effect is not unlike watching a re-write of Coward's Private Lives strained through Marber's more flamboyantly explicit Closer, a new kind of sex-in-the-city scenario, a messily uncertain quadrille for spoilt hedonists."

"Perry's a novice playwright, but one of great promise, and that sort of detail, and confidence, may follow in due course."

Michael Billington, The Guardian

★★

" In writing, and starring in, his first play he has stuck closely to the format of the TV series: short scenes, smart lines, characters trying to make sense of their relationships. But what works in half-hour bites on television looks decidedly thin on the stage."

"Given Perry’s well-documented, and happily conquered, period of addiction, the play feels at times like a piece of confessional therapy: when the audience applauds Jack’s climactic account of confronting his personal demons, you are not quite sure whether they are cheering the character or the actor."

"While the play clearly aims to deal with four loners struggling to come to terms with early middle-age, it feels more like an extended sitcom in which there is little going on behind the lines."

Andrzej Lukowski, Time Out

★★

"‘The End of Longing, written by and starring Perry, is not a good play. It is an extremely literal work that feels like a sitcom script on a stage, not a theatrical piece of writing."

"Nevertheless The End of Longing has something. Perry’s real-life battles with alcohol have been well documented, and it’s clear that Jack’s experiences are heavily based upon the author’s own. His demons are the motor of Lindsay Posner’s crisp production: despite his distracting delivery, Perry’s performance is surprisingly moving."

"It’s still not a good play, though, and it’s hard to imagine any producer in their right mind staging it without the author as star. But the fact is, if you’re a fan of Matthew Perry, seeing him flagellate himself in a reasonably amusing fashion for your entertainment is probably not a terrible use of your money."

Ann Treneman, The Times

★★★★

"The snobs won’t like this play which is, at times, a sort of extended episode of Friends with swearing and sex. But it is much darker, indeed eclipse of the Sun at points, taking us where the TV sitcom could never go."

"The set by Anna Fleischle, with its flashy moving cityscape backdrop, works brilliantly. Lindsay Posner directs, balancing the light and dark humour well."

"Perry… looks like a man with something to prove to himself and us — and he has certainly done that."

Holly Williams, The Independent

★★

"It is a woeful attempt at a dark-but-redemptive romcom, drawing on Perry’s own experiences of addiction."

"It’s just a shame about the rest of the script. There’s so little believable connection or tenderness between these friends and lovers, and their characters have about as much depth as a puddle in a heatwave."

"Perry is a big box-office draw, but The End of Longing will leave all except the most devoted Friends fans longing for the end."

Mark Shenton, The Stage

★★★

"Much of this feels superficial, the emotions phoney and barely earned, with Perry writing in short, choppy scenes interspersed with direct address, a series of monologues in which the characters express their thoughts to the audience."

"Lindsay Posner's glossily designed and snappy production keeps it moving fast enough, and there are very strong performances from Perry's co-stars Jennifer Mudge (as his new girlfriend), Lloyd Owen and Christina Cole as the friends. This all serves to make it a more watchable experience than the material really deserves."


The End of Longing runs at the Playhouse Theatre until 14 May.