It is Eve Best as Olivia who dazzles her way through the production. She positively bursts with energy and is a delight to watch, capturing Olivia’s ditziness perfectly as well as her dilemma at having to choose between son and lover – particularly when her son has given her such a horrid choice.
LOVE IN IDLENESS – West End
I’m glad I returned as I found myself enjoying the play a lot more second time round. Taking it for what it is, which is a Rattigan curiosity rather than a revelatory (re)discovery, this light-hearted comedy is actually an interesting addition to the West End’s early summer.
LOVE IN IDLENESS – West End
With its brilliantly witty script and fantastic characters, Love in Idleness has plenty to offer those who are in need of gentle but ultimately affectionate entertainment and Trevor Nunn has created a classy production that really enhances the comical elements.
LOVE IN IDLENESS – Menier Chocolate Factory
The rehabilitation of playwright Terence Rattigan has surpassed even the stage when not only are his best plays regularly revived, but also his less good work now reaches a large audience. So last year his masterpiece The Deep Blue Sea was at the National Theatre, while the enterprising Kenneth Branagh revived Harlequinade for the West End in November 2015.
LOVE IN IDLENESS – Menier Chocolate Factory
The rehabilitation of playwright Terence Rattigan has surpassed even the stage when not only are his best plays regularly revived, but also his less good work now reaches a large audience. So last year his masterpiece The Deep Blue Sea was at the National Theatre, while the enterprising Kenneth Branagh revived Harlequinade for the West End in November 2015.
NEWS: Menier’s Love in Idleness follows Travesties to West End’s Apollo
The Menier Chocolate Factory today announces the West End transfer of their current critically acclaimed revival of Terence Rattigan’s Love in Idleness, directed by Trevor Nunn and starring Eve Best and Anthony Head.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Love in Idleness at Menier Chocolate Factory
Trevor Nunn directs this revival of Terence Rattigan’s comedy which stars Eve Best, Helen George, Anthony Head and Edward Bluemel. Here is what critics have been saying about it.
LOVE IN IDLENESS – Menier Chocolate Factory
Overlord of all that is authentic in British theatre, Trevor Nunn is now further redefining authenticity by presenting us with a Terence Rattigan premiere, cobbled together from two pre-existing versions of the same play.
LOVE IN IDLENESS – Menier Chocolate Factory
Eve Best is a marvel, whether in real pain, resignation, maternal yearning or brittle gaiety (“There’s no situation in the world that can’t be passed off with small-talk!”). Anthony Head is her match, absolutely.
NEWS: Anthony Head & Eve Best star in Rattigan’s Love in Idleness
Anthony Head and Eve Best star in Trevor Nunn’s major new revival of Terence Rattigan’s Love in Idleness at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
My theatre diary: ‘New’ plays The First Man, Ticking, Teddy Ferrara, Eventide
The new play’s the thing, even when it’s very old…. Here are four I’ve seen over the past few weeks, three of which I haven’t managed to squeeze yet into separate blogs, but that I’d nevertheless recommend: The First Man, Ticking, Teddy Ferrara and, now touring, Eventide.