The Swell - Orange Tree

I was also at today's matinee, and completely agree with Alessia.

(There's a fire in the centre of Richmond, being handled effectively, so I had to walk a distance to get a bus out of there, before writing my thoughts).

I did foresee the twist (it's a fair one, heavily signalled), but it really doesn't matter whether you do or don't, cos the play is actually about what love means, and there are some lovely performances, with Saroja-Lily Ratnavel drawing me right into the emotive throughline.

Some spoilers follow. . .

If this play is like the song "Jolene," then the above-mentioned Saroja-Lily Ratnavel plays the Dolly Parton role, Annie, with a flighty Jessica Clark as the Jolene-type, Flo, who flows forcefully but effortlessly into flirt-mode with the object of everyone's desire, Bel (like Belle from "Beauty and the Beast," she has similarly questionable judgement about who is or is not a "beast"), and I was hoping against hope that she wouldn't take Annie's girl "just because she can. . ."

Anyhoo, years later, the same three characters, played by older actors, in a structure that intercuts the timelines, would appear to be on course for a reunion. . .

Ratnavel drew me into the story and made me care. Clark scared me for her, in a breathing-all-the-oxygen-in-the-room unintentionally villainous kind of way, and, as Bel, Ruby Crepin-Glyne injected an air of dreamy openness that convinced me anything could happen.

It's a fun story, the older actors are as good as the younger ones, it's original, and it has an air of mystery about it. Though the mystery occasionally restricts the depth of some of the themes, by the time the play is over, it's ruminations about the nature of love are approaching profound. For me, 4 stars.

Hadn't fancied this originally; reviews here and in press made me keen to book but although the Orange Tree advertises "seats from £15", only those in the youth concession category can now buy them at that price, so no go, literally. Being shortish it would neatly have fitted in after a matinee for me and I could even find a few dates still unaffected by train strikes, but no affordable tix. I've never known this theatre do offers if a production is selling poorly, which I respect, and those can be annoying for people who've already booked at the original price, but in this case, and especially given the hot weather at times and strikes as mentioned, a deal might encourage bookings.

Even as a member, these are our seats of choice. Legroom, little extra space on the side and always a great view.

But I think Showgirl is right in that I have never seen an OT offer, even when there has been a dozen or so people in the audience. On the other hand, they do pretty strong season/early booking deals so they may be wary of undercutting those with any precedent.

Just out of this. A very good play with great acting and directing. Only but is that I saw the twist coming so the surprise effect was lost on me. Fortunately, the play is interesting, funny and moving so it did not really matter that much.

Upstairs was empty and probably 70% full downstairs. It deserves a bigger audience and touring.

This is one of the cases where I think there should be a prize for best ensemble. You might not be able to single someone's acting but as a group they are close to perfection.

Not entirely alone: I too found the deliberate "miscasting" gimmicky, and spent the first half of the play trying to work out a) who everyone was and b) who everyone thought everyone else was...presumably it was intentional and saying something about not identifying people with their physical appearance, but I just found it tiresome. Then there was indeed an interesting development and I thought the play was finally going to take off, but instead it just...stopped. But, as you say, rapturously acclaimed....though, I suspect, more for its intentions than its actual achievement.