The Cabinet Minister - Menier Chocolate Factory

The booking link: book.menierchocolatefactory.com/tickets/series/CABMINISTER

I thought it was just wonderful. I enjoyed every second. It's very traditional, quite sort of chocolate box production, though. Some people don't like that style of theatre. Just a very solid, immaculately acted, perfectly designed and beautifully directed fairly straight forward production of a comedy from 1890 that still has a lot to say about the English class system and social mobility that's as relevant to now as it was when it was written.

It's described as a farce but it's not really what I'd consider a farce. It's very funny, but farce to me indicates more physical style of comedy.

The one tiny thing I didn't like

Was also a bit bemused that

There are so few revivals of plays like this these days that any decent production of them should find an audience. When was the last time NT did one of his plays ? I’m seeing this later in the run having only found out about it here - poor marketing by the Menier (which I’ve been to several times before so I’m in their database).

Same.  Would love to see shows there, but the prices price me out.  It used to be accessible, but no longer.

The chances of John Lithgow attending this play seem very high, since he's in town, and he was the (very funny) title character in that production, opposite Nancy Carroll, and he has a stated love of Pinero, which apparently began when he saw Alastair Sim as "The Magistrate" at Chichester.

I was surprised the prices were relatively low (in my view) for the performances I looked at - £50 top and some at £40/£30, that's in-line with similar venues. But no real concessions that I could see, that's true. 

Might be worth trying for £20 rush on Todaytix - which I presume does apply to matinees.

Is that not the normal evening start time for most shows?

I've seen the play twice now (I adore it) and have sat on both sides of the seating banks, it's been directed amazingly well to ensure wherever you're sat you get a great view.

I'm confused about the comments on late starts! The show finished just before 10pm, like the majority of shows on in London!

I'd highly recommend this show for anybody who would love a masterclass in comedy acting! Nancy Carroll is phenomenal.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. Great fun with lots of laughs. Particularly wonderful to see so many parts for older female actors and Nancy Carroll, Sara Crowe and Dillie Keane are all fantastic - utterly nailing it and being hilarious.
Highly recommended.

I did say oldER actors. I'm not suggesting that Nancy Carroll is geriatric, but 49 (50 next month if Wikipedia is correct) is middle-aged by most people's reckonings. She's certainly not an ingenue in the first flush of youth. I was making a positive point that the three best performances come from women who are 49, 58 and 72 respectively. I don't think that's unreasonable or that it merited a 'FFS' as a response...