Jennifer Mudge

REVIEW: The End Of Longing, Playhouse Theatre ✭✭✭

Reviews, West End
The End Of Longing by Matthew Perry at the Playhouse Theatre London

The End of Longing Playhouse Theatre 3 Stars BOOK TICKETS Imagine an episode of Friends. Except they’re all now in their 30s and 40s, and are plagued by their addictions and neuroses (insert joke about the upcoming Friends reunion here). That’s the basic premise of The End of Longing; a coming of age story for those who are already of a certain age. And to top it off, its star and writer is Matthew Perry, best known for playing wisecracking Chandler Bing in the much loved American sitcom. The play follows four hopeless singletons in the city as they seek to make sense of their questionable life choices and ticking biological clocks. There’s Jack (an alcoholic, played by Perry) Stephanie, (a prostitute), Stevie (needy and neurotic) and Joseph (nice but dim). Naturally, being a romantic comedy, they all improbably bump into each other and then start pairing up. Jack and … Read more

REVIEW: Into The Woods, Roundabout At Laura Pels Theatre ✭✭✭✭

Broadway, Reviews
Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine at the Roundabout Theare Company

Derek McLane provides a set which looks like the shattered innards of a grand piano. The proscenium is framed by bits of piano, and the back wall is almost entirely taken up by a tangle of piano wires – they stand in for the Woods in some ways. But the overall result is that the audience is constantly reminded that they are not watching a musical; they are inside one.