Jesse Eisenberg’s new play The Spoils received its UK premiere this week, running at West End’s Trafalgar Studios until 13 August 2016. Eisenberg also co-stars with Kunal Nayyar, both reprising their roles from the play’s New York run. Does it impress the critics?
The Guardian: ★★★ Michael Billington wrote: “Eisenberg can write and has inherited Woody Allen’s comedic gift for exploring neurosis. But, at the end, I still found myself asking why we should be asked to care about the travails of a privileged New York brat.”
Evening Standard: ★★★ Henry Hitchings commented: “while Eisenberg makes Ben intriguing, it’s a risk to focus for over two and a half hours on someone who, despite moments of vulnerability, is so resolutely loathsome.”
The Telegraph: ★★★★ Dominic Cavendish said: “Eisenberg is by turns tactile and needy, aloof and attention-seeking, flipping between cynical jest and highly-strung earnest.”
The Stage: ★★★★ Mark Shenton summed the production up by saying: “Eisenberg’s play coasts on a gentle wit that’s never truly laugh-out funny, but Scott Elliott’s production conveys its clumsy feeling and awkward friendships through a spellbinding cast.”
The Upcoming: ★★★★★ Jim Compton-Hall gave the play a huge recommendation by writing: “The Spoils is one of the year’s must-see shows: a perfect example of writing and acting, incredibly funny and dramatically beautiful.”
The Reviews Hub: ★★★ “For observational comedy The Spoils is a great play, but for a meaningful analysis of the lives of the spoilt rich, even with a wonderful cast of talented actors, it only skirts the surface and looks less than convincing when it tries to dive in.”
The Arts Desk: “But the antisocial network’s endless self-analysis makes for a flat theatre experience, dictating a response rather than trusting the audience to reach their own conclusions.”
Time Out: ★★★ “Eisenberg emerges with credit, albeit more as an actor – he has a fascinating energy that’s all his own.”
