REVIEW: Nell Gwynn, Apollo Theatre ✭✭✭
If you don’t mind it light, hammy and reminiscent of a drunk uncle, Nell Gwynn is fabulously entertaining. There’s a natty onstage band, snappy songs and even a lesson in the art of fan flirtation.
If you don’t mind it light, hammy and reminiscent of a drunk uncle, Nell Gwynn is fabulously entertaining. There’s a natty onstage band, snappy songs and even a lesson in the art of fan flirtation.
Full casting has been announced for the West End transfer of Jessica Swale’s new play Nell Gwynn, directed by Christopher Luscombe. The full cast includes Paige Carter, Michele Dotrice, Matthew Durkan, Michael Garner, Greg Haiste, George Jennings, Ellie Leah, Peter McGovern, David Rintoul, Anneika Rose, Nicholas Shaw, David Sturzaker, Jay Taylor, Sasha Waddell and Sarah Woodward. Award-winning Gemma Arterton (The Duchess of Malfi, Made in Dagenham, Quantum of Solace) stars as cheeky, charming and clever Nell Gwynn, one of the first, and most acclaimed, women to appear on the London stage. Following its critical acclaim and a sell-out run at Shakespeare’s Globe, Nell Gwynn will be on at the Apollo Theatre for a strictly limited season from 4 February 2016. Jessica Swale’s entertaining new play Nell Gwynn charts the rise of an unlikely heroine, from her roots in Coal Yard Alley to her success as Britain’s most celebrated actress, and … Read more
While there are more serious moments to be found in this play, especially focused on the opportunities for women in the new theatre of the 1660s, there is no point pressing too far for layers of deep meaning in this frothy confection