Plaza Suite starring SJP & Matthew Broderick - Savoy

I have seen the 1971 film many times and the play twice, so I knew what to expect. Neil Simon movies never excel, but they are perfect for a rainy afternoon as comfort fodder, especially if you can tune into his droll and wry Jewish American humour. He always writes his characters with fondness and probably from experience.

It's interesting to read through this thread and see a majority of comments finding this Plaza Suite tepid to bad, yet 17 out of 30 ratings are at least four stars. Perhaps the marketing team have been out in force? Or maybe there's a gap between those of us unafraid to post comments and wider opinion?

There's not much love for Act 1, is there? Let me redress that, even if I did have to view most of it on CCTV in the mezzanine bar.

While it has plenty of lines to make you smile, Act 1 is not a comedy and is not meant to be. It's full of pathos, and it's heartbreaking to watch a middle-aged lady from upstate New York attempting valiantly to rekindle her unhappy marriage

I chuckled at criticisms that this show has dated attitudes and dated sexual politics. We're in 1969, so of course it does! Theatre is allowed to give us a glimpse of times gone by. What is remarkable is how often I still come across similar attitudes to gender roles today, often from women.

Act 1 is pretty progressive in shining a light on the subjugation of the housewife by the male breadwinner. The downtrodden woman is played for laughs in the movie in all three acts, but is treated a little more seriously here and Sarah Jessica Parker's three characters never manage to lose audience sympathy.

In act 1, she wants for no more than happiness together, while her husband craves regular validation of his ability to succeed in life and has no regard for the needs of his wife (or, for that matter, his secretary). His is not a good look, even in 1969 when women's lib was gaining traction. It's a sobering first half.

Matthew Broderick's Hollywood producer in Act 2 is possibly the most troublesome character for modern sensibilities. Essentially, this is a man trying to bed an old, high-school acquaintance -- ditsy, ostensibly happily-married -- on a fleeting visit to Manhattan by getting her drunk. He's not shy to harness the power and glamour she perceives in his lifestyle and is entranced by. If you subscribe to current rigid legal views on consent, you might struggle. Happily, there is sufficient comedy to shine away any darkness, and, in any case, there are plenty of suggestions that this lady knows exactly what she is doing. She even confesses to having had two vodka stingers in the lobby, which were for what purpose if this was purely a chance to say hello to a past old flame?

Act three ratchets up the comedy to near farcical levels, and it's easy to see why this is the crowd pleaser, although it's the least interesting of the three acts when you already know how it plays out.

Unlike previous versions, SJP's matriarch from Queens Borough has any stereotypical Jewishness excised. Perhaps we're no longer allowed to find humour in such things, even though such comedy is born of Jewish authors and comedians from New York? The downplaying does Simon's script a disservice.

Comedy is perhaps the most difficult of genres for an actor, as timing and emphasis are everything, and SJP shows herself to be on fine form, although less so in act three. MB is also good, but its hard to watch him without seeing Ferris Bueller, and in Plaza Suite, you can't help but hear the masterful Walter Matthau speak the lines.

Tonight we had a little fun in act two when MB mistakenly said "Pootch" instead of "Gootch" and broke the fourth wall momentarily with rolled-eyes at the audience and there was the faintest of corpsing from both leads. The audience applauded.

Despite the stress of my not reaching London on time, it was a delight to re-experience this play; there was much that made me smile, and the audience seemed to receive it warmly at the end, with ovations from a few.

Four stars.

Act 1: ??:??-20:34
Act 2: 20:56-21:31
Act 3: 21:34-22:17

Just a quick mention, that if anyone is looking for a reasonably priced ticket for this, I have one to sell in the noticeboard. (It's a ridiculous that these days £90 for front stalls in the west end is relatively cheap but we are where we are.)

I saw this last night. I had initially been put off by the high prices, but when they extended I caved and decided to go.

Anyway, I enjoyed it a lot. As others have said, it is a bit dated, but given that it explicity tells us the era in which it is set, that's fine. During the first act I did find myself sitting thinking "this isn't very funny", but it gradually became apparent that being funny wasn't the main point of the story so in an odd way I appreciated the earlier details of the story retrospectively.

The second and third acts were more straightforwardly funny and enjoyable with both leads doing a great job.

In summary, a really good night out (thankfully given the price of the tickets).

A disappointing evening seeing a comedy play that just was never really able to land any of its jokes. Even with Sarah Jessica Parker’s star power, Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite feels dated and, to be honest, I doubt it was even that hilarious for audiences when it debuted on Broadway in 1968.

The piece consists of three individual stories played out in three seperate acts, all located in the same hotel room in the late 60s. There is one interval after the first sketch, with a short pause between the second and third. At an hour long, act one soon becomes tedious to watch.

SJP teases moments of reflection as her character, Karen, contemplates how to resolve her unloving marriage. In fact, despite being at least 15 minutes too long, act one at least gives us moments of pathos among the old-fashioned comedy. However, Matthew Broderick offers little range or variation in his delivery and gives his real life wife little to work with in response to her moments of genuine humour.

The second act probably works out the shortest and depicts Broderick as some sort of Austin Powers rip-off, with SJP as his ditzy love interest. It is probably the most amusing of the three stories, mainly because of the absurdity and SJP’s physical comedy masterclass.

However, if it hadn’t already, Simon’s comedy completely runs out of steam by act three. It’s an extremely laboured (and irritatingly repetitive) scene of slapstick which, for me, just doesn’t come close to landing. Even SJP couldn’t do much with the material she was given by this point.

The fact it’s old hat is no problem for me, I love a good Noel Coward caper. This is a weak effort and I don’t understand why it has been revived. Well, that’s a lie; I do. Because the run has pretty much sold out with the US husband and wife duo commanding astronomical ticket prices.

I wasn’t going to bother but managed to grab a £25 restricted view (it wasn’t) ticket for the final week of its run. It was mildly disappointing at that price. If I’d have paid £100-£300 as many had, I’d have been livid. SJP does provide some decent moments though and I’m sure her fans will take solace from that, at least.

Two stars.

I sympathise. It is old fashioned. It was funny at the time. Sad really. 

When I went there was a show stop too (SJP look confused more than worried!) and they stretchered someone out.  Before they could restart the show someone else collapsed!  My companion and I agreed that if a third person went over we were leaving in case there was something in the air!