Michael Simkins

REVIEW: Dear Lupin, Apollo Theatre ✭✭✭✭

Reviews, West End
Dear Lupon at Apollo Theatre

Inevitably there are many priceless anecdotes that had to be left out of this play, and its dramatic transformation is not perfect. But it captures the spirit of the original faithfully, and will one hopes bring more readers to a book that is now well on its way to becoming a modern classic. Humour like this, formed in the face of adversity, is a form of grace that generously helps to make life more bearable for everyone else.

REVIEW: Hay Fever, Duke Of York’s Theatre ✭✭✭✭

Reviews, West End
Alice Orr-Ewing, Felicity Kendal and Edward Franklin in Hay Fever at the Duke Of York's Theatre

Felicity Kendal is a triumph as the effervescent, self-indulgent diva that is Judith. Her throaty, raspy tones; the endless lighting and stubbing out of cigarettes; the casual, but persistent, flick of tousled curls; the innocent eyes and the naughty remark and the naughty remark and the innocent eyes; the devilment, the wild abandon, the sneaky confidence, the haughty indifference. Every aspect of the performance is beautifully judged by Kendal.