US and THEM

Synopsis

An English and an American couple embark on an enchanted friendship after a chance meeting in a restaurant New York. They share a sense of humour, similar interests and even teenage children - but are any of them speaking the same language? The buffer zone between friendship and enmity proves fertile ground for this witty dissection of a special relationship.

Our Review:

29 May 2003

It was George Bernard Shaw who said "England and America are two countries divided by a common language", and lyricist Ira Gershwin who once wittily catalogued the linguistic differences - "You say eether and I say eyether/You say neether and I say nyther;/Eether, eyether, neether, nyther -/Let's call the whole thing off!"

Now, in a new play called US and THEM, playwright Tamsin Oglesby has lengthily dramatised the story of two 40-something couples from either side of the Atlantic who at the start of the play decide to follow Gershwin's advice and call the whole thing off. It then rewinds from that moment to chart how they fell in with each other after a chance meeting in a New York restaurant, and how they eventually fall out in a mire of missed business opportunities and an apparently shared family tree that's supposed to connect them turns out to make them not as close as they think they are.

Oglesby's overwritten play - it runs to 19 scenes in...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (212.211.102.76) - 24 June 2003:

I though playing out the 'special relationship' in this way was rather clever and very thought-provoking. Well acted and very well staged, it might not be great, but it's certainly a cut above many new plays - and it fits the new Hampstead like a glove....

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