In most respects, it is better and more vibrant, more deftly detailed, than it was in Stratford Upon Avon. It’s an unrivalled spectacle of theatrical ingenuity. Go. Just go.
This is a terrifically mature presentation of a difficult, but eminently attractive, and entertaining, piece of musical theatre. It is Keates’ best work to date and in Erivo he has a star of true power who delivers the goods in every way.
There used to be a TV soap called Sons and Daughters and this production of Fathers and Sons felt more like some historical episodes of that series than a thoughtful adaptation of Turgenev.
Somewhat incredulously, the companion piece in this double bill, Black Comedy, an entertainment written purely for pleasure, really tells us more about sexual politics in the modern world than this take on Strindberg, whose own views have long been filed in the Male Supremacist file.
It’s a smorgasbord of pratfalls and physical comedy…And a lot of it is genuinely funny, rip-roaring in fact.
The production has much to recommend it. It’s never dull, it’s beautiful to look at and watch and the writing has not lost any of its joy
Nothing much that happens is surprising or even that interesting, except that this is an entirely black Church family. And, in that one way, it sparkles with a freshness, an intriguing quality which commands attention.
This is not a production where you sit and watch and the outcome is determined for you; no, it’s a production where your mood and the mood of those around you is a palpable part of the experience, and which hones and persuades you to certain points of view.
