Mixed bag for The Elephant Man starring Bradley Cooper

Michael Coveney, WhatsOnStage

★★★★

"it's a pleasure to welcome [Bradley Cooper] to London in this expert revival of a beautiful play"

"It's a triumph of tone and tenderness."

Michael Billington, Guardian

★★★

"Bradley Cooper is very good indeed as the eponymous hero of Bernard Pomerance’s play"

"Much as I admire Cooper’s performance, I still find Pomerance’s play – as I did on its Hampstead theatre premiere in London in 1977 – thin and tendentious"

"although the production is well done and makes you long to see Cooper in challenging classic roles, the play itself constructs its assault on do-gooding Victorian society on the shakiest foundations."

Paul Taylor, Independent

★★★★

"Bradley Cooper is every bit as good as the vast majority of reviewers claimed when Scott Ellis’s fine production opened on Broadway last December"

"Cooper effects this metamorphosis with terrific tact. This is a wonderfully humane yet wholly unsancimonious performance"

"The best scenes are those with Patricia Clarkson’s warm, witty Mrs Kendal"

Ben Lawrence, Daily Telegraph

★★★

"Cooper is touching and unshowy in the title role and, together with co-star Alessandro Nivola, completely carries Scott Ellis’s sluggishly directed production."

"this is not a superficial performance: its strengths lie in its subtleties"

"Essentially, Pomerance’s play is a chamber piece, and with more taut direction this should have been 90 minutes straight through. Instead, we get two 50-minute acts that are peppered with uncomfortable pauses."

Quentin Letts, Daily Mail

★★★★★

"The star of the show, however, is one Bradley Cooper as Merrick."

"The show itself may not be quite five-star material but his performance lifts it into the top division."

Natasha Tripney, The Stage

★★

"it also can’t help but feel like an actor’s exercise at times."

"While there is one powerful moment of tenderness and emotional exposure between Cooper and Clarkson, which they both handle with delicacy, the rest of Ellis’ production is fitful and underpowered"

"It might work better as a chamber piece but feels rather marooned on the West End stage"

The Elephant Man runs at Theatre Royal Haymarket until 8 August 2015